Letter of Recommendation Requirements

Here are some requirements when you ask someone to write a letter of recommendation.

Please remember to give your recommender as much time as possible to get that submitted, such asking about a month before you need it!

Here are things to consider:

1- Ask if the person you want a letter from is willing to write one for you. Your Counselor already expect to be asked and are willing to do so, but what you are doing is *requesting* that one of us actually do so. Get in the habit of formally asking every person you need a recommendation from in the future. 

2- Write a resume or synopsis of you: your accomplishments, activities, goals for the future. Anything that you would want a potential school, scholarship award committee, or employer to know about you, that you might wish that a recommender would find a way to include in your letter of recommendation, you should include in your synopsis. It can be a list of bullet statements, an essay, or even a resume or CV. Include all of this information with your initial request. 

3- Make sure to include the correct name and address of the place you want your letter submitted to. If there is a specific person that the letter should be sent to at the business or school, make sure to include this with your initial request. 

4- Make sure you notify your recommender of the deadline for your recommendation. Again, include that in your request and try to give them plenty of time to complete the letter, at least a few weeks if possible! 

5. If you are going through a process with an organization that requires an electronic submission process, make sure that you notify your recommender that you are sending their name and contact information to that process when you send your request and resume so that your recommender will be looking for an email from that organization. 

6- Do not ask your recommender the next day after your request if they were able to

do it yet. The answer will be, most of the time, “Not yet.” Most recommenders will make every effort to meet your deadline, but most are also busy people. Please give them as much time as possible. Two to four weeks would be a good amount of time. If you haven't heard from your recommender or the receiving organization that your letter is submitted by 7 days before your deadline, at that point one email reminder would be appropriate. 

If you will do all of those things, it will make this process much easier to meet deadlines, and reduce frustration for everyone!.