Info for students

Letters of Recommendation

When requesting letters of recommendation, please give me 2 weeks notice and follow these guidelines:

1) Send one email per letter request.

2) In the subject line, write in order:  Letter Request, [Last Name], [Deadline], [Institution/Program Name]

3) In the body of the email, put the following information in the following order:

    a) the organization/position to which you are applying

    b) the deadline

    c) the email address (preferably) to which the letter should be sent *or* the link for where to submit the letter electronically *or* the snail mail address

    d) bullet points addressing why you want to do what you are asking me to recommend you for doing

    e) any special notes (not required), for example: if this is the only program you are applying for, if this is one of many, if you need me to mention something in particular (explain a low GPA or leave of absence), etc.

4) Attach a CV or other relevant application materials that I might need to see to write a strong letter.

I am willing to write letters for students for whom I can write a letter based on solid knowledge of your work, and your reasoning for applying to the program of interest.  If I don't know these two things, my letter will not help very much.  Further, I strongly encourage student to apply for NO MORE than 5 graduate programs, with an absolute maximum of 10.  If you're applying for more programs than this, please explain in your letter request email why you are applying to so many.

Finally-- let me know if you get what you want!  Student success stories are a major perk of this job and I love to hear about them!

Research

Research opportunities in biology are a key component of good training.  There are many possibilities at Reed and elsewhere to get involved with research.  Check out the webpage that lists summer opportunities, or come by office hours to talk in person about how to get your foot in the door.  Also, ask other students about their experiences-- they are a great resource for information and advice.

Advice for thesis students

1) Deadlines help make things happen.  Set them.  Meet them.

2) Don't start writing a thesis/paper without an outline.

3) Before you start your experiment-- think about the analysis.  You typically know the *type* of data you are going to collect, so you might as well pretend you have it in hand and think about how you will analyze it.  It makes it easier to design your data collection sheets and, sooner rather than later, modify your experimental design if you realize there are major challenges with the analysis.