Letters
For Students
For recommendation letters, I am mostly following my colleague McAuley's guideline here: https://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~jmcauley/reference.html.
If you are applying to more than one or two programs, please use a letter submission service like interfolio. This will mean that I upload the letter only once and it will be automatically submitted for you each time you request it. This costs a little money but is incredibly useful if you're applying to several programs and dealing with several letter writers.
If you have worked with me: If we have a track record of working together (e.g., published work) then I'll be happy to write you a personalized letter. Nevertheless it would be helpful if you could
Contact me at least a couple of weeks before the earliest reference is required, and provide me your complete application package.
In your email include a draft with a 2-3 paragraph summary of our research projects. I will rewrite this but this will save me some time.
Let me know of any other specifics you'd like me to include, e.g. highlights that you think won't be mentioned in your other letters.
If you have taken a course with me: I will likely write a generic letter if you have actively taken my STAD80, Deep Learning Theory, or Trustworth AI with A or above. My template is here (if you have taken my course, you should know how to use it). Please consider the following when asking for a letter:
Fill out the linked template before contacting me. I will edit, and then add a letterhead / signature.
I will use your filled-in template to evaluate your English writing skills.
You are welcome to add extra details, though I may or may not end up including them. If your work particularly stood out, e.g. you had some amazing engineering project on Github, then by all means include these highlights.
Try to apply for all programs within a short period of time. I am less likely to miss a request if all the requests associated with you come in simultaneously.
For Green Card Applicants and Others
I am generally happy to write such a letter, just drop me a message.