Entry 17: Asking for Letters of Recommendation

Another hurdle for applying to graduate school is asking references to write you a letter. Given that you are affiliated with Brown, some of your letters are going to come from your professors. Professors aren't the only people who can write you a reference letter (and for clinical graduate programs, you often want more of a mix between your professors and someone who might know you in a more clinical setting, even if that person is also a professor). In this post, I want to offer some thoughts about letter writing, and students asking for letters.

At the start, I want to say that professors get asked to write  a lot of recommendations. Basically, at any given point in the calendar year, I'm writing some kind of letter of recommendation. It is not uncommon, and professors know to expect students to ask them for a letter. So, it's OK to ask. 

But when you ask, there are some things that you should be aware of:

1) Professors (and any letter writer) will want to know what kind of program you are applying to and where. Having a list of the schools you are applying to (and the potential mentors) would be a good idea. But this is true for letters for fellowships, grants (like the GRFP), or jobs as well.

2) Here's the big one: Ask as soon as possible. One of the main reasons letter writers will say no is that they don't have enough time. Although the time frame people use differs, I would recommend asking at least two weeks in advance and A MONTH IN ADVANCE is pretty normal. In fact, some faculty will only agree to do it only if you ask a month or more in advance. Faculty can (and will) often say no if they don't have enough time 

3) Faculty will often ask you for some documentation, including, but not limited to: Where you are applying and why? Your CV. Your personal statement (or at least a draft). And endorsements from people who might know you better (for example, if you work more with a grad student than the faculty member, the faculty member will ask the grad student, including asking the grad student to co-author the letter).  

4) Just because a faculty member is teaching your course, it does not mean that they will write you a letter of recommendation. While full-time members of the department usually have the expectation to write letters, adjunct faculty members do not have that expectation. Some adjuncts will write letters, but others will not. Do not expect an adjunct faculty member to serve as letter writers. Remember also that at Brown, an adjunct no longer has a Brown account once their course is over, so they will not even get your emails if you use the standard Brown email.

(And btw, if you're unclear whether someone is an adjunct, ask)

5) When I get asked to write a letter, I will say one of three things.

   a) Yes (accompanied by a request for more information where necessary)

   b) No (and reasons why)

   c) Are you sure?

This (c) response is important to talk about. My (c) response is when I don't know a student particularly well. I will usually ask the student if they have other faculty members who know them better than I do. Usually, the letter that I'm going to write will be vanilla - it will have relevant information, but I will have to say that I don't know the student particularly well, and that's not the strongest possible letter.

6) A faculty member is a better reference than a postdoc, who is a better reference than a graduate student, who is a better reference than a staff person (who should NOT be writing these letters). One of the great advantages of being at Brown is the ability to interact with faculty. Even if a graduate student knows you well, you should still ask the faculty for the letter (and possibly ask the grad student to co-author the letter). Many research groups are organized hierarchically, but here is a case where you should ask the professor directly, not your immediate supervisor.

7) Asking in person at the outset (and then following-up with an email) is always better than just emailing. ALWAYS. If you can do this, please do so.

Look, this is difficult for some people, because you have to ask someone for something, and once you commit to that, it's more final. Asking people to write letters makes the process more real, because now you're committing other people to do work, not just you doing something yourself. But every faculty member (or frankly, anyone you would ask for a letter) has had to ask many people for letters for themselves, and this is often the way they pay it forward.