Requesting Letters of Recommendation

Do You Need a Letter of Recommendation?

Some four year universities require that you submit a letter of recommendation with your application – however, not all of them do. If you are a current senior in the middle of the application process, it is extremely important that you spend some time organizing your applications. You should know what is required for each application, to avoid doing any unnecessary work! We recommend creating a Sheets Document that organizes the college name, application website, application deadline, and application requirements (Letters of Rec, Personal Statement, Supplemental Writing Prompts, Interview) in one place.

As for the Letter of Recommendation, you should only begin the process of asking for a LOR if you are applying for a school that requires one. We have listed three major university systems below, along with their LOR requirements:

UC System: Does NOT require a letter or rec. (unless request for supplemental factors)

CSU System: Does NOT require a letter of rec. However, for students applying to EOP an EOP recommendation will be required. Please consider two people you will ask and note their email addresses. Once you have submitted your application, provide them with an EOP Recommendation Sheet.

Private Universities or Out of State Public Universities: It depends on the school. Please refer to the application to see if a Letter of Recommendation is required. Most schools that use the Common Application (www.commonapp.org) will require a letter of rec. - Use Student Information Sheet

Scholarships: Letter of Recommendations requests vary. Student Information Sheet

Teacher Recommendation

Ask your teacher if he/she would be willing to write you a letter of recommendation. After they agree, provide them with the student information sheet. Your teacher can write one broad letter of recommendation that can be used for each of your applications.

Students applying to EOP, you will need to submit two EOP Recommendation Requests that will be sent to two different recommenders. In addition to providing teachers with the student information sheet please also provide them with the EOP recommendation sheet.

You should pick teachers who know you, respect you, and will write positive things about you. Also, be sure to ask the teacher in a way in which he or she can politely decline. Try to talk to your teacher when he or she has a few minutes to spare and ask if "You would consider writing one of my recommendations."

EOP Recommendation

Student Information Sheet

Learning Director Recommendation

Learning Director are frequently asked to write recommendation letters for private colleges. Please complete a information sheet and provide your learning director with as much information as possible.

To provide the best recommendation possible, your Learning Director needs as much information as possible.

TIPS:

-Give staff plenty of time to write your recommendation. At least three weeks is recommended.

-When answering the Student Information Sheet questions, use complete sentences. The more information that you offer to your writer, the better the recommendation letter will be!

-Be sure to write a thank you note to each writer after the process is completed. It is "good manners" to thank staff after completing a recommendation letter for you. A great deal of though and effort goes into these letters and your acknowledgement is greatly appreciated!