Three Tips for Great Recommendation Letters

Did you know a great recommendation letter increases your chances of being selected for a scholarship?

This is because most funding organizations do not meet you in person, so a recommendation letter from someone in authority plays an important role in influencing their decision on your application.

Most funding organizations give instructions on who you can get a recommendation letter from, most preferably a Professor, a Doctor (PhD), Manager or Supervisor.

Use my THREE tips below to get an impressive letter:

1.)    Ask nicely and avoid last minute requests: Lecturers and Tutors are usually busy, so approach them as early as possible in a polite manner. In my own case, I let them know three months before I started my applications (to avoid stories that touch).

2.)    Give them all the important details: We all know most lecturers give generic recommendation letters, please avoid this by helping them build the content of your letter so that it is more specific. Let your Recommender know what the funding organization is looking for in their ideal scholarship candidate, and what skills and strengths you will like the Recommender to highlight in the letter.

Give your Recommender your full name, GPA, relevant courses you excelled at as well as extracurricular leadership activities you held such as Course Rep, Secretary etc. They can mention one major achievement you had in this position. It is also important for them to state any academic achievements e.g. Best Graduating Student. Also, your dissertation details should be included in order to emphasize your brilliant research skills.

3.)    Deadlines: Please inform your Recommender of any deadlines and let them know how they can submit the recommendation letter.

I hope this helps, keep putting in those efforts and contact me if you have questions. See you in the next post.