Recommendation letters

Recommendation letters form an important part of the application process. However it is also a subject of much confusion and uncertainty. Here are a few of the issues that potential B-school applicants face and my take on them.

How many recommendation letters do I need?

Most colleges that I have applied to have asked for two recommendation letters. You could also send in a third recommendation letter if you feel that it will increase your chances of getting into a particular college. However, I have seen colleges discouraging people from sending in a third recommendation letter. One particular college explicitly mentioned that applicants will receive negative rankings for a third recommendation letter. so, the moral of the story is: Carefully read the application requirements of each college and make a judgement call.

Essentially, you need two recommendation letters for each college. Let us say you are applying for six colleges, you need twelve recommendation letters. That's a lot! Imagine asking someone to write six recommendation letter for you! what should you do? That takes us to the next question of this section:

Who should recommend me?

Ideally b-schools would like to hear from your immediate supervisors, colleges or managers that you have worked under. This is a problem for students with no work experience. Many students who apply to b-schools fresh from college try to get recommendation letters from their professors and Heads of the Departments. Most B-schools place little or no weightage on academic recommendations. This is mainly because b-schools believe that professors are in contact with many students and are unlikely to know you on a personal basis. In fact most b-schools are quite upfront and explicit about this. This also puts most working professionals in a fix because most working professionals would like their immediate supervisors/managers know about their b-school aspirations. Asking supervisors/managers to recommend them would expose applicants intentions.

There is a solution this fix, fortunately. B-schools are also quite open to recommendations from customers /clients. In fact, I believe that a client / customer testimonial carries more weightage than a supervisor / manager.

How does a recommendation letter look like?

Have a look at the sample recommendation letter below:

Are there any ways to improve / influence the recommendation letter?

Fortunately for us, there are specific ways to improve / influence the recommendation letter.

1) Give the recommender a copy of your application essays - this will help him / her in understanding how you are trying to project yourself and he / she can word the recommendation letters accordingly.

2) Give the recommender a copy of your resume highlighting your accomplishments in areas related to their purview. This has the same function as first one.

3) Let them know in advance that you will be asking them for recommendations and also let them know when you need the recommendation letters back.

4) Keep sending friendly reminders in case you haven't received the letters by the due date.

How do I send the recommendation letter?

Most B-schools require you to send the recommendation letters to be sent to them along with the other necessary transcripts. However, off late, a few b-schools have started asking people to fill in and submit recommendation letters online. This is a great benefit for those who are seperated from thier recommendors geographically.