Sample letter of recommendation for graduate school. How can a teacher write a letter of recommendation to a student?

Another invariable part of the package of documents for studying at a foreign university when entering a master's program, and in some cases even a bachelor's degree, is letters of recommendation. As a rule, their number varies from one to four per page of printed text. In addition to admission, letters of recommendation play a very important role in identifying fellows and grant recipients. In theory, letter of recommendation the one who signs it writes, but in the vast majority of cases this work remains with the student. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account some rules, under which a letter of recommendation will never reveal your authorship.

Choose an author

The first thing you should determine before preparing the documents for admission is the author of the letter. It can be a thesis supervisor, a lecturer, an employer. Ideally, all letters should be from individuals directly related to your chosen subject. But, if you have been working outside your specialty for several years, then a letter describing you as a responsible, attentive and interested employee will play into your hands. When it comes to academic recommendations, there is no room for maneuver - a recommendation from a professor of physics will not give you an advantage in admission to the department of arts.

Discuss details

If you are not familiar with the selected author, contact him and discuss the conditions under which the author agrees to recommend you, offer help in projects. Most likely, nothing will be required of you - this practice is widely used, and professors sign without looking. But on the rare occasion that a professor refuses to recommend you for no reason, offer to participate in his work. Firstly, this will allow him to see your virtues, and secondly, help in scientific work can be a great addition to your resume.
Usually, professors do not write recommendations themselves, but they will be asked for their content. In the event that a teacher who is not very familiar to you agrees to put his signature, be sure to let him know that he can be contacted. Of course, no one will question him, but a letter may well come to email asking if he really recommended you. If you are lucky enough to receive at least an oral assessment of your strengths from the author, feel free to include it in the text of the letter, which the author will later sign. If the content is provided entirely at your discretion, some work is already needed here. The task at this stage is not to list once again your merits, but to understand how your merits look in the eyes of the recommender. And, of course, if letters of recommendation are written by several people, then their views should at least differ in some way.
For example, one author emphasizes your accuracy, but also considers you sociable and diligent, the second focuses on your efficiency and also considers you neat. If all letters of recommendation are drawn up according to the same template, this may lead to suspicion. But the main features should be fixed in all letters.
Remember that the commission also considers the translation of the transcript. Therefore, when designing the content of the letter, make sure that it corresponds to these estimates. For example, if your philosophy diploma says “good” and your philosophy teacher describes you as “the most capable student,” this looks implausible.
But in addition to flattering words specifically about you, the recommendation should also include examples that reinforce the words. Describe projects - for example, graduate work on a specific topic, if you wrote it under the direction of the author, or course work highly commendable. It would be even better if you have practical experience of working with the author. But, since such phenomena are not so common, any activity that connects your person with the author will do. As for the recommendation from employers, here you can mention any activities that you implemented during the activity - both a successfully completed customer project that reflects your organizational skills, and the collection of soft toys for orphanages, which will show you compassionate and enterprising. If possible, the letter of recommendation should be printed on the letterhead of the organization or educational institution. In their absence, printing will suffice. Make sure that the resulting text does not match the style of the motivation letter, otherwise your authorship will be obvious. Regarding the language of writing - of course, the letter should be in the language of the future university. But if the author does not speak the language and refuses to sign it in this form, you can write it in Russian, and then translate it at the department of a foreign language, putting the necessary signatures and assuring the author's signature with the seal of the department.
Usually, the date of the recommendation is put at the beginning of the letter. After it comes an introductory word, as a rule, the classic “to whom it may concern”. Then comes the indication of the person who is characterized in this recommendation. After that comes the main text, which can be divided into several paragraphs by content.

1. Getting to know the student. In the first paragraph of the main text, you need to indicate what kind of relationship the author has to your person and how long he has known you.
2. Description professional qualities. In the second paragraph, you need to place just a description of your strengths, preferably supported by examples.
3. Explanation of controversial points. This part of the text may not be relevant for some students. But, if in the transcript for the subject, the teacher of which the author is, there is a mark of “good” or lower, it is necessary to explain on behalf of the author the reason for this. And, of course, it is better to indicate your progress in a given area as well.
4. Conclusion. Here you can make a general recommendation, for example, "based on my experience with a student, I believe that he would do just fine with the program of your university."

At the end of the letter, the position and name of the author are indicated. It will not be superfluous to also indicate his contact details.

Finishing touches

Certify the printed version of the recommendation with the author's signature and seal. If necessary, translate the letter at the pulpit.
If the university requires a handwritten version of the letter (which is extremely rare), ask the author to transcribe from the printed version with their own hand.
In the event that you send a letter of recommendation by mail, the author must put his signature on the gluing line. The return address of the letter should be accordingly not yours, but the author's.

Assistance in paperwork

This article displays only the main points in the preparation of documents. In order to take into account all the subtleties, you can contact us for professional help in the preparation of motivational and recommendation letters. We also offer our assistance in filling out an electronic application to the university and assistance in editing all application documents. Based on our many years of professional experience, we can quickly and efficiently prepare your documents for the university, for further 100% enrollment in a foreign university.

for a 11 "a" graduate of the MBOU "Sosnovo-Ozerskaya secondary school No. 1" of the Yeravninsky district, Republic of Buryatia

Dambaev Ardan Valeryevich 02/23/1998, birthplace Sosnovo-Ozerskoye village, Eravninsky district, passport data 8111 444331 issued by the TP of the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Republic of Belarus in the Yeravninsky district dated 03/28/2012, residing at the address of the Republic of Belarus, Sosnovo-Ozerskoye village, Domninskaya st. 6a.

The education department of the municipality "Eravninsky district" and the administration of the MBOU "Sosnovo-Ozerskoysosh No. 1" recommend Ardan Valerievich Dambaev, a graduate of the school, for admission to a military institution.

Dambaev Ardan Valeryevich is a current graduate of the MBOU "Sosnovo-Ozersk secondary school No. 1", a contender for a gold medal, has a certificate with honors for basic general education.

Ardan's successes speak for themselves; he is one of the brightest and most significant representatives of the 2015 graduates. In 2012, Ardan took courses on the topic “ International communication technologies and oratory skills”, has a certificate of international personnel registration, assistance in obtaining higher education, including abroad, as well as in career guidance in the international field of activity in the system of non-governmental organizations under the UN, UNESCO, Ekaterinburg. As a result of this study, he received a diploma of a graduate of the Summer Academy of UNESCO International Youth Leaders for the successful completion of the course "International communication technologies and oratory" with the right to participate in actions of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations at the UN, UNESCO.

This graduate has a high, positive performance of participation in International, All-Russian and municipal Olympiads and extracurricular activities:

International level:

2012, certificate of participation in the International Spelling Literacy Competition

All-Russian level:

2010, certificate of participation in the All-Russian youth subject championship in history (5th place)

Regional level:

2009, Diploma of the Interregional Research and Production Complex dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Buryat chronicler, Uligershin, local historian R.E. Erdyneev

2010, diploma, for the 1st place in the NPK artistic word competition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the honored cultural worker Sh.N. Nimbuev

2010 Certificate of honor for III place in the Republican NPC of teachers and students "Beligei tuyaa"

2010, diploma for III place at the republican mini-football competitions among teams general education schools RB

2010, certificate of the participant of the IV Republican contest of the artistic word "Wonderful Treasure of Buryatia"

2010, diploma for II place in the Futsal Festival among yard teams for the cup of deputies of the City Council

2011, a letter of thanks for participating in the III Republican Conference "Nimbuev Readings"

2011, certificate of honor, for the VI place in the Republican NPC of teachers and students "Beligei tuyaa"

2011, certificate of participation in the Republican competition "Gulamta" (10th place in the republic)

2011, the results of participation in the republican inter-subject competition "Polyathlon-monitoring" (achieved level - sufficient)

2013, certificate of a participant in the Republican Scientific and Practical Complex “Step into the Future”, section “Buryat language”

2013, diploma for III place in the Republican Olympiad of BSU "Baikal Perspective"

2013, a letter of thanks for participation in the V Republican SPC "Beligeytuyaa"

2013, a letter of thanks for participating in the interregional Olympiad in the Buryat language

2013, certificate of the participant of the Interregional Olympiad in Baikal Studies"

2013, certificate for II place in the 20th Republican football tournament "Ulhasaa Cup"

Certificate of participation in the Republican Complex Olympiad "Lingua-2013"

2014, Diploma of the Republican Research and Production Association "Star of the East", in the nomination "For the study of Buddhist traditions"

2014, Diploma for participation in the competition of the Buddhist Sandhi of Russia "Ehe helen-nyutagai magtaal"

2014, certificate of participation in the interregional game competition "British Bulldog" in English (2nd place in the region)

2014, diploma for III place in the XXI republican mini-football tournament among youths

2014, diploma for II place in the region in the inter-regional competition in English "British Bulldog"

Dambaev Ardan Valeryevich demonstrates a fairly high level of basic knowledge necessary for continuing education, possesses general educational and subject skills and abilities, and owns modern computer technologies. A graduate is able to navigate the educational, social situation on the basis of personally mastered subject knowledge, cultural heritage, norms of social behavior and interpersonal communication. Dambaev Ardan knows how to systematize the material within learning topic able to reason, knows how to work rationally, is able to apply his knowledge in practice. Developed self-awareness and adequate self-esteem, the need for self-knowledge.

Dambaev Ardan is a developed personality capable of self-determination with a pronounced civic position and a sense of patriotism. The young man demonstrates social maturity, responsibility for his actions, has a legal culture. He is distinguished by the ability to defend his views and beliefs, the ability to find a non-standard solution in an unexpected life situation.

Dambaev Ardan leads a healthy lifestyle, consciously treats his health. This is an indispensable participant in school, regional sports events. He is engaged in the school military-patriotic circle "Zorig", which taught him to apply the simplest methods of providing first aid. medical care to act in emergency situations.

At school, he is attentive, disciplined, accurate. The material explained by the teacher is learned quickly and easily. A graduate is able to build further training plans, to identify the meaning of their educational activities. He is always ready for lessons, he uses additional material in preparation. The graduate is able to argue his knowledge and the results obtained. Able to embody the acquired knowledge into spiritual and material activity forms. Dambaev Ardan is a repeated participant in subject Olympiads in the Buryat language and literature. Possesses good written and oral communication skills. Able to plan his work and free time. Dambaev Ardan is an interesting interlocutor, as he is an original, non-standard, peculiar person who has his own point of view on most issues.

If necessary, he knows how to defend his views and position, to decide in a situation of choice, while showing firmness and determination.

It has developed a sense of collectivism, mutual support. For his sensitive and sympathetic character among his comrades, he enjoys respect and trust. Responsibly and conscientiously performs duties in the class team. Rejoices in the success of his comrades. Never achieves his goal at the expense of others or to their detriment.

Kindness, modesty, responsiveness are the main features of his character.

Head of the NGO "Yeravninsky District": ___________ / Shagdarova V.I /

Director of secondary school No. 1: ____________________ / Tyshkenova I.Yu. /

Educational establishments usually require 1-2-3 letters of recommendation from students. Letters should contain the contact information of the teacher, fellow student, employer who writes the letter, so that the admissions staff can contact him and clarify some details if necessary.

It is important that the person writing the recommendation not only knows the applicant, but also teaches exactly the subject that is directly related to the chosen specialty. For example, if an application is submitted for a specialty in chemistry, and a recommendation is from a physical education teacher, then such a recommendation will have absolutely no value, since it will not be able to show the student's knowledge in the chosen specialty.

Better recommendations immediately write in English, but if this is not possible, then the translation from Russian should be done by a specialist, indicating their personal and contact details and with the seal of their institution. provide services professional translation.

It is better that all the information provided is reliable, and the characteristics are confirmed by examples. Each letter of recommendation should complement the next, then when they are read, the admission committee will have the most favorable opinion about the student.

Practice online recommendations. They pass in such a way that after reading the letters of recommendation to the people who wrote them, links to a page with a ready-made login and password are sent to the postal address, on which they can fill out another recommendation. After entering, they will be offered a two or three page form, on which they will need to evaluate the merits of the contestant on a scale.

An example of a letter of recommendation from an employer for a student (in English)

RECOMMENDATION LETTER

This letter is issued to student name to confirm, that she has completed training practical work from 1/07/2013 until 25/08/2013 at Consulting Center Ltd in Moscow. student name has performed a wide range of assistant duties including practical services for organizations and individual entrepreneurs, looking for developing of their businesses. During her time spent with us, she gained experience in practical consulting activities, she has helped to conduct audit of management systems and learned methodologies of conducting analysis.

student name has done an excellent job and we wish her a good luck with her application and want to thank her once again for her contribution.

An example of a letter of recommendation from a mathematics teacher for a student (in Russian)

During the two years of teaching mathematics,Student Name showed himself to be a conscientious and active student, he diligently carried out his tasks. Takes with interest new material. I rate his knowledge today as good and excellent. Always striving for the best results and working on mistakes. Student Name a purposeful boy, I see in him a certain potential and interest in the subject. It was a pleasure to work with him and I wish Student Name all the best in the future.

An example of a great extended letter of recommendation from a teacher-professor for a student (in English)

RECOMMENDATION LETTER

Dear Admission Committee,

I am writing this letter to give my highest possible recommendation for Student Name. I know Student Name through his work in my laboratory. Student Name first approached me two years ago about the possibility of practice in my laboratory for a summer. At our first meeting I described the general outline of the project he might work on. He asked good questions and appeared intelligent. He then went to the library and found many papers on the subject and read them carefully. He did this independently - I did not ask him to do this. I learned that he had done this at our second meeting, and I was quite impressed at his motivation and independence. Student Name obtained funding from a program at our University to work in the lab for a summer. during that summer, student name demonstrated the ability to work independently with great creativity and enthusiasm. He also put in many long hours. He worked as hard as my best graduate student. I teamed student name with another student to work on a project involving testing of patients having shoulder pathology. The project included recruiting patients, testing patients using biomechanical instrumentation, and data analysis. student name excelled in each one of these areas. His interpersonal skills were excellent. He “schmoozed” the clinical staff to facilitate recruitment of patients. He tested the patients professionally. Sometimes this testing required long days due to the extensive setup and calibration of equipment each morning before the clinic began operation. He stayed after the testing sessions to back up data, clean up the area, and start data processing programs to run overnight. He was usually the first one in the lab in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. The other student working with student name commented favorably about working with student name. He said student name got along well with everyone, pulled his own weight on the project, and had the ability to compromise with other team members. One incident illustrates this point. There is a staff member in an adjoining lab that is a rather prickly person who has had many problems with students in the past. student name had to interact with this staff person in order to get his project done. student name was able to find a common interest with this staff person, which was folk dancing, and build a rapport based on this mutual interest. At the end of the summer the staff person noted what a pleasure it was to work with student name. student name also volunteered to help others in the lab. One of the other students was doing a project on knee biomechanics, and it required harvesting knees from the University's morgue. student name volunteered to help harvest the knees on several occasions. I asked the graduate student in charge of that project about student name, and he commented that student name has excellent dissection skills. I was especially taken by student name creative mind and independent work ethics. He continued to read the literature independently and generate interesting hypotheses. We met about every other week, and at several meetings he presented papers and information that was new to me. By the end of the summer he was introducing me to scientific papers that were directly relevant to his study that I hadn’t seen before. student name also showed remarkable problem solving ability. Our instrumentation system began having problems midway through his experiment. student name spent a full weekend troubleshooting the system. He discovered there was a loose wire in the A/D connection box. student name is going to be the first author on a manuscript that he is preparing for publication. He followed through on his promise to write the manuscript during his M2 year. Moreover, he handled the manuscript revisions and saw the manuscript through to publication. This illustrates his high level of motivation. In summary, student name is clearly the best student I have worked with in the last 10 years. I would very much like him to match our residency program. Even though I hope he stays here, I think he would be an outstanding asset to your program. I give him my highest recommendation.

Sincerely, Professor Name (Signature)

An example of a letter of recommendation for a university (in English) from a student

RECOMMENDATION LETTER

To Whom it May Concern

It is my pleasure to recommend student name for admission to at. I am a fifth-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley. I came to know student name when I was her Graduate Student Instructor for Philosophy (Ethical Relativism). The course comprised . student name distinguished herself by submitting an exceptionally well researched and interesting project on ethical practices in ancient Greece. I would rank her in the top 2% of students that I have taught in the past five years in respect of her writing ability and research skills. overall, student name is highly intelligent and has good analytical skills. Her project on ethical practices in ancient Greece demonstrated her ability to come a detailed understanding of the ethical practices of another, very different, culture, and to analyze the consequences of those practices for contemporary ethical theories. She gave a particularly interesting discussion of the difficult practice of infanticide, and showed both sensitivity and detachment when discussing its ethical consequences. Her overall intelligence is also reflected in her grades for the course, which were by far the best in the class. student name has excellent communication skills. Her written work is both clear and concise, as well as interesting to read. She demonstrated her oral articulateness in the discussion sections that were an integral part of the course. Each discussion section focused on a particular ethical dilemma. Students were required to analyze morally problematic situations, and to develop and argue for their own ethical views with regard to the issue in question. student name was highly proficient in applying the course material in analyzing the problem situations. She always explained her views very concisely and gave supporting arguments that were both clear and persuasive. student name also demonstrated good teamwork skills in group assignments. At a personal level student name is a well disciplined, industrious student with a pleasant personality. She went well beyond the course requirements in the quantity and quality of her project, putting in a lot of extra research and attending office hours every week. throughout the course, student name demonstrated great perseverance and initiative. Not only was she interested in and motivated to learn the material, but she also put great work into assimilating it to her own experience and developing her own ideas about each ethical topic that we discussed. student name is unquestionably an exceptional candidate for graduate study in Ethics. student name work in Philosophy suggests that she would greatly benefit from the opportunities for intellectual development provided by a sustained period of graduate study. She has proven herself to have the perseverance, initiative, and intellectual creativity necessary to complete an advanced graduate degree. I would therefore highly recommend student name . If her performance in my class is a good indication of how she would perform as a graduate student, she would be an extremely positive asset to your program. If I can be of any further assistance, or provide you with any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

yours sincerely,

Ceteris paribus, a well-written letter of recommendation can tip the scales in favor of a particular candidate when entering a foreign university or receiving a scholarship. Learn how to choose a referee and write an effective student recommendation letter.

The purpose of a letter of recommendation to a student is to give an idea of ​​the abilities, achievements and personal qualities of the candidate. It is written on behalf of the person under whose direct supervision the candidate studied, performed a scientific project or work. Usually 2-3 references are required from different individuals. Most often, these are teachers, supervisors or supervisors from work.

In Russia and other countries of the former USSR, the culture of letters of recommendation is not developed and not everyone knows how to write them in the accepted international format. Therefore, it is better to prepare the texts yourself and then coordinate them with the recommenders.

The text of letters of recommendation should be “tailored” to the requirements of the training program or grant competition. For example, see how it differs. Therefore, before writing the text, carefully study the requirements for the candidate m.

Recommendations should help achieve your goal, namely: to go to university or receive a grant. Not every letter of recommendation is helpful. Therefore, the choice of recommenders should be approached consciously.

• competent in the area of ​​interest to you or a related area;
• is able to evaluate your achievements in the area of ​​interest to you;
• can give an exhaustive description of your personal qualities;
• can evaluate your professionalism (punctuality, efficiency, etc.);
• is able to characterize your academic abilities and intellectual potential;
• high opinion of you and your abilities;
• has status and a certain recognition in the field of interest to you.

Make a list of your potential referrals and select those who meet most of the criteria.Start thinking about references as soon as you decide to go study abroad. Try to gain experience and competencies that you want to reflect in letters of recommendation, show yourself in a favorable light in front of the right recommenders: make sure that your zeal and success do not go unnoticed by them.

A standard letter of recommendation should consist of 4 parts:

Context (introduction)

• In what capacity and for how long has the referrer known the candidate.

Candidate Achievements

• An overall assessment of the candidate's abilities that played an important role in the learning process, assignments, projects, research or job duties.
• Characteristics of the activities and achievements of the candidate during the mentioned period of study or work (here you can list awards, honors, certificates, etc.).
• Characteristics of the candidate's strengths, especially in comparison with other students or work colleagues with a similar background.

Personal qualities of the candidate

• Evaluation of the candidate's motivation and maturity (especially when it comes to entering a master's or doctoral program).
• Characteristics of leadership and communication qualities, the ability to work in a team or individually.

Conclusion

• Finally, the recommender must justify why he believes that the recommended candidate should be accepted into the specified program of study or awarded a grant.
• What follows is the phrase that additional information about the candidate can be provided upon request.
• At the very end, the surname and initials of the recommender, his position and contacts (email address, phone number) are indicated.

The document must be signed by the recommender. If possible, the recommendation can be printed on the official letterhead of the institution where the recommender works. However, this is not always possible, so you can do without it.

• The tone of the letter is extremely positive. Even a neutral tone of the letter can only hurt, as it is likely to be perceived negatively.
• Reflects the subjective opinion of the recommender about the candidate, and does not list what can be learned from the test results, diploma, etc.
• Sufficiently detailed and specific: statements about the qualities, achievements and skills of the candidate are supported by real examples.
• Takes into account the specific requirements of a particular training program or grant program in evaluating a candidate.
• Fits on one, maximum - on two pages.

• Too short for description concrete examples and events.
• Written according to the template, without considering the purpose of the recommendation.
• Focuses on the context (for example, a detailed description of the circumstances of meeting the candidate), and not on the qualities and achievements of the candidate.
• Contains unsubstantiated praise of the candidate.
• It tells about events that happened many years ago.

This document may be needed in the following cases: for an internship, admission to graduate school, to a foreign university, etc.

It starts with the title of the document.

Then it is indicated for how long and in what capacity the recommender was acquainted with the student.

After that, there is an assessment of the strengths, abilities of the student, his success during his studies. Here you can talk about his participation in olympiads, various competitions, competitions, about the presence of awards, diplomas, places of honor, etc.

MTUSI student Anokhina Inna Vladislavovna

Student Anokhina I. V. in 2013 graduated from the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics, department of production organization, audit and accounting of the Faculty of Economics and Management.

During her studies, she proved herself to be a capable student, striving to constantly improve her level of knowledge. He is the winner of the competition Best Student Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics. In the team enjoyed respect and authority. Actively participated in the social and cultural life of the university. Has a non-conflict character, differs high level responsibility and hard work.