If you need a letter of recommendation for graduate school or a job, it is normally the case that I am willing to write one for you if one or more of the following apply:
- You have taken one or more of my classes and did well in it/them.
- You have written an honors in the major thesis or a graduate thesis or dissertation for which I was the director or a member of your committee.
- You have worked with me on some University or Department-related project such as the Ethics Bowl or Undergraduate Research.
- If you took a class with me or attended UCF several years ago and this is the first time I have heard from you since you graduated or left UCF, it is even more important to re-familiarize me with you by reminding me of the classes you took with me.
Generally speaking, I will write a letter of recommendation for you only if I can write a very strong one. If you have taken only one of my classes, for example, and received a grade of "C" or lower AND this is the only academic activity in which I am familiar with you and your work, I will probably not be able to write a letter for you.
You may wish to see the following information about requesting letters of recommendation from Purdue University:
To facilitate the process, please provide the following by bringing the the information to me or sending it by e-mail (e-mail is preferred):
- The reason for your letter of recommendation request (e.g., graduate school, law school, employment)
- Names and addresses of the people/places to which letters are to go
- Dates the letters are due
- Your major and overall GPA
- Your UCF graduation date
- Your PID
- Your resume - send this as an attachment or bring a hard copy
- A list of the classes you have taken with me and the grade(s) you received. Any other information relevant to that class (or to those classes) is also helpful. For example, if you wrote a paper for the course, what was it about and what grade did you receive?
- Relevant information about your personal experience or situation if it is helpful in writing the letter.
- Attach or provide forms from the organizations, businesses, or academic institutions that need to be filled out and/or provide information about online recommendation forms, where applicable.
Be sure to list all of these pieces of information in a hard-copy document or in an e-mail in an orderly fashion. The more organized you are, the more quickly your letters can be written and sent. |