what to highlight in a letter of recommendation

As an English teacher and higher counselor working with high school students, I've had the privilege and responsibility of writing messages of recommendation. Starting out, I had a strong urge to assistance, only no clear sense of what exactly should get into a reference letter. If they all speak to students' impressive qualities and accomplishments, what makes some letters stand out among the rest?

To respond this question, I researched recommendation letters from both sides of the higher process, cartoon on the advice of loftier school counselors and teachers and the perspective of college admissions officers. I also read dozens of recommendation letters, from the ones that admissions committees loved to the ones that were cast aside every bit mediocre, useless, or straight up negative about a student.

This commodity compiles the most important lessons I learned through this research and my own work supporting students through the college process. Read on for a discussion of what exactly needs to go into the kind of rec letter of the alphabet that effectively advocates for a educatee and boosts her admissions chances.

Showtime, let's take a deeper expect at what purpose recommendation letters serve when they arrive before an admissions committee.

The Goal: What'due south the Purpose of Letters of Recommendation?

Admissions officers put a lot of weight on recommendation letters. Especially in selective admissions, when thousands of qualified students are competing for a limited number of spots, reference messages can go a long way toward differentiating i pupil from another. According to Harvard dean of admissions William Fitzsimmons, recommendation letters are "extremely important" and are read "with peachy care" (often projected onto large screens in front of the whole committee!).

And then what are all these advisedly reading admissions officers looking for? Two main features. The kickoff is an insightful, in-depth story of the pupil that reveals both her academic skills and personal qualities. Equally a teacher, you're in a smashing position to comment on a student's intellectual curiosity, creativity, and attitude towards learning.

Additionally, you can speak to a student'south admirable personal qualities, like her sense of integrity, compassion, and leadership skills, to name a few. This in-depth look gives an admissions committee a holistic view of your student beyond the grades and clubs listed on their application. It helps the student come up to life.

The 2d main feature that admissions committees typically await for is a student'south potential to contribute positively to the college customs, also as to succeed afterward graduation. In your recommendation, you can land your confidence well-nigh a student'south success on campus and future achievement.

Sure qualities are especially impressive to admissions officers and hint at success in higher, though this might vary somewhat by individual. Some of these qualities include love of learning, academic commitment, communication skills, delivery to mastery of a specific skill or area, and leadership capacity.

Since these personal qualities may non be apparent on the balance of the application (autonomously from the student's ain personal essay), the letters of recommendation can get a long manner toward describing a student's best traits. Plus, they show that a student has teachers who are motivated to advocate for her.

Of class, hopefully no one would agree to recommend a student and and then write bad, sabotaging things in the recommendation letter. It's generally safe to assume that all recommenders want to support students in continuing their education. But mediocre messages tin often be simply equally bad as ones that are outright critical, and merely "good letters" pale in comparison to excellent ones. And so what must go into a letter of recommendation to brand information technology specially stiff and effective?

How to Write a Strong Letter of the alphabet of Recommendation

The strongest letters of recommendation accept time and thought to arts and crafts. They're individualized to each student and are thoughtfully revised for word selection and flow of ideas. First and foremost, what content is essential for a potent letter of recommendation?

Include Key Content

Perhaps the best mode to describe what a letter of the alphabet of rec should include is to showtime out by describing what it shouldn't include. A rec letter of the alphabet should not simply be a restatement of a student's grades, clubs, and awards. All of these facts and figures should already be stated on the student's application.

The near ineffective rec letters just echo a pupil'southward resume. Admissions officers are hoping for deep insights into a student's character, rather than a list of data points that could apply to any number of students.

This is not to say that recommenders shouldn't mention what a student has achieved or been involved in, just they shouldn't feel compelled to list every single achievement. Instead, writers can point to a specific involvement or story that demonstrates something meaningful about the educatee.

For instance, y'all might be writing nigh Michael, whose powerful commitment to equality and teaching led him to constitute a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school. In this way, you're discussing something a pupil has done to illuminate something pregnant and beauteous about his character and motivations. Speaking near his establishment of the GSA is more illustrative than just stating that he's committed to equality and social justice.

So if reiterating the educatee's grades and activities (i.east., resume points) shouldn't go into the rec letter of the alphabet, what should? MIT offers an insightful breakdown of the questions its admissions officers would like answers to in a alphabetic character. These questions are a useful guide for recommenders writing to any college.

• What is the context of your human relationship with the bidder?
• Has the student demonstrated a willingness to take intellectual risks and go beyond the normal classroom experience?
• Does the bidder have any unusual competence, talent, or leadership abilities?
• What motivates this person? What excites him/her?
• How does the applicant collaborate with teachers? With peers? Describe his/her personality and social skills.
• What will you remember well-nigh about this person?
• Has the applicant ever experienced disappointment or failure? If then, how did he/she react?
• Are at that place any unusual family or community circumstances of which nosotros should exist enlightened?

Source: MIT Admissions

A recommender doesn't necessarily have to answer all of these questions, but they're bang-up starting points for brainstorming. They shift the focus from what a student does to what a student is similar, in terms of her intellectual marvel, specific skills or talents, passions, and personality. Some other impressive qualities include advice skills, resourcefulness, and innovative problem-solving. Admissions committees often also look for demonstrated leadership and the ability to interact with others in an interactive and diverse environment.

Across these personal qualities, alphabetic character writers might speak to unusual circumstances or challenges that the student has faced or survived. These can be especially meaningful to explain a dip in academic performance or to testify how a pupil has overcome hardship. I would advise getting the student'south permission before including personal family data, just to make sure she'southward comfortable with you sharing it.

Finally, a recommender may want to demonstrate her own familiarity with the schoolhouse to which the educatee is applying. If the school is particularly competitive, then y'all might express your confidence in the student'southward ability to thrive in an academically rigorous surround. If yous're an alum of the school, then you tin can believably affirm your confidence that the pupil would exist a strong cultural fit.

The strongest recommendation messages give insight into a student'southward intellectual orientation, motivations, and personal qualities. As a writer, how tin you lot rave most your student in a sincere, genuine, and convincing manner? One of the best ways to accomplish this is to focus your recommendation on the pupil'due south best assets.

Highlight your student's most important strengths.

Highlight the Most Important Themes

Simply as you don't have to experience compelled to echo every course, social club, and honor on the student'due south resume, you as well don't accept to speak nearly every quality that makes the student swell. In fact, well-rounded students aren't necessarily what the almost competitive schools are looking for. While selective schools look for academic excellence in about subjects, what they really appreciate is a educatee's singular commitment to a specific and distinct area.

Developing a "big spike" in a certain area shows passion, dedication, and the ability to sustain long-term focus. As PrepScholar co-founder and Harvard alum Allen Cheng writes, top colleges are looking for students who are going to alter the globe. They're expecting deep achievement, and the best predictor of that is deep achievement in loftier school. Therefore admissions committees are particularly impressed by a "huge fasten" in science, writing, athletics, or whatever your commitment might exist.

Of grade, not all or fifty-fifty the bulk of students are applying to Ivy League schools, but the takeaway message all the same applies. Recommendation messages don't have to present the educatee also-rounded and good at everything they do. Instead, they can paint a specific picture and highlight the qualities that are nigh important to understanding who the student is and what drives her deportment.

Some letters may highlight that a student is a top scholar, while others may speak to a pupil'south leadership skills. Some may focus in on the pupil's passion for volunteer work, or her talent in interim, fine art, music, or athletics. For students with extensive international feel, recommenders may rave about their multicultural, global perspective or unusual maturity and sophistication.

Other students may have had to overcome hardships in their life, and the recommender could speak to their resilience and strength equally a survivor. Equally mentioned in a higher place, I would suggest discussing this kind of content with the student to make sure she'due south comfortable sharing it with admissions commitees. All in all, a recommender can brainstorm a list of the student's best assets (with the aid of the student's resume and "brag sheet"), and zero in on the most important themes.

What if the educatee hasn't demonstrated interest in a item expanse, only you're excited to see her farther explore her interests in college? In this case, yous could write earnestly nearly the pupil's room to grow and the potential you run across in her. At the same time, exist careful with this kind of wording, as it may suggest different things to dissimilar admissions officers. If you really feel not able or qualified to provide the educatee with a recommendation that will help her access chances, so you shouldrespectfully refuse or suggest someone else amend able to write her letter of the alphabet.

Once you've chosen the most important themes to highlight most a educatee, yous tin can think near specific stories, experiences, or observations that demonstrate those strengths. The best recommendation letters "show," rather than but "tell."

Bring your letter to life with meaningful stories and examples.

Give Specific Examples

Which sentence paints a better motion picture in the mind of the reader?

a) Kate is a stiff writer.

b) Due to Kate's superlative writing and belittling skills, I'll be using her yr-long thesis on representations of gender inJane Eyre as an example of the highest quality work to students in my future AP English classes.

The second uses more powerful words, but more importantly it gives a specific case, thereby proving that Kate has potent writing skills. It explains the grounds on which the teacher draws her determination that Kate is a good writer. It additionally suggests that Kate can sustain focus in a long-term project and impressed the instructor and then much that her thesis became a model for future students.

The best recommendation letters back up their praise of a student with specific anecdotes and observations. These stories achieve a few things. I, they support the writer's claims. Rather than just listing adjectives, the writer backs up her description with examples.

Secondly, they brand the letter more than interesting and assistance the student come to life in the optics of admissions officers. Officers may be up all night reading through applications. The terminal thing they want is a generic, boring recommendation letter that blends into all the others. Interesting stories make both the letter and the student pop.

Finally, the use of specific stories proves that the recommender is, in fact, qualified to appraise the student. The best letters come from teachers who know a pupil well. Sharing anecdotes and observations prove that you've gotten to know the student thoroughly and your evaluation of her is trustworthy and reliable.

In improver to sharing examples, yous should take the time to exist intentional with your word pick. Consider which phrases and adjectives will present the clearest and strongest endorsement of the student.

Dance, words, dance!

Utilize Powerful Words

As with any piece of writing, the best recommendation letters are eloquent, clear, and don't fall into the trap of cliches. Calling someone a go-getter with a center of gold who leaves no stone unturned and is a friend to all may elicit a yawn or heart roll from the admissions officer.

Oft finding just the right word happens in the revision phase. Check if you lot wrote interesting when creative or innovative would piece of work better. Keep an eye out for dainty when you meant to dive into a student'due south unique empathy or pity for others. Perhaps you wrote hard worker when intellectual risk-taker would more than accurately describe the student.

Some words and phrases that can be used to described a student's academic strengths includeinsightful, belittling, curious, observant, innovative, or mastery of a specific subject field.Others that fall more than in the loonshit of personal and professional strengths includemature, flexible, generous, empathetic, leader, versatile, ethical, motivated, ambitious, resourceful, and strong communication skills.

Admissions officers have read hundreds, if not thousands, of recommendation messages, and they're used to reading between the lines. Be intentional with your wording so you lot don't accidentally communicate something negative about the pupil. For case, a phrase like "leads by example" or "excels at working independently" could bespeak that the pupil keeps to herself and has problem working with others.

While it's more of import to be authentic and not worry too much nearly what an admissions officer may or may not remember, this mindset can help y'all exist purposeful with what y'all say and how yous say it in your alphabetic character. Y'all tin can also continue an center out for sounding over the height with your phrase. While the all-time letters rave about their students, they have the examples to support their praise. Simply listing elevation adjectives could come off every bit overblown and insincere.

A second technique that may impress admissions officers is the use of a high ranking.

Rank the Educatee Highly, When Appropriate

Consider these ranking statements:

Carla is the most talented and driven math educatee I have taught in my 20 years at High School High.

James is i of the top three students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching.

An impressive ranking, similar the two above, certainly communicates a strong vote of conviction in a pupil, especially if information technology comes from a instructor with hundreds of students to compare her recommendee to. If your pupil is applying to a selective or Ivy League schoolhouse, then a powerful ranking can go a long way toward testifying to a educatee's outstanding achievement and qualities.

On the other mitt, a ranking similar "to a higher place boilerplate" or "relatively strong effort compared to her peers" may do more harm than good. If you can genuinely provide a statement of high ranking, then you can aid the student by including it. If non, then it'southward probably appropriate to get out that kind of statement out of your letter of the alphabet.

Apart from a statement of ranking, there are a few other central components to include in your letter of recommendation. While y'all can be creative and customize your letters to each student, there are a few essential pieces of information that you should include in all your letters.

Include all essential elements.

State All Essential Information

There are a few necessary pieces of information to include in all recommendation letters that I touched on briefly at the beginning of this article. The first is an explicit statement of who you're recommending. If you can customize your letter for each college, all the better. Second, you should state who y'all are, your position at the school, and the contexts in which you've gotten to know the applicant.

If you've gotten to know the student both in class for a year and as editor of the school newspaper, then this shows you've taught and supervised her in unlike contexts and are especially qualified to evaluate her. Admissions officers usually prefer recommendations from junior year teachers, as they had the student recently and for a whole year. A senior year instructor probably doesn't know the student very well however, and sophomore and freshman yr was besides far in the by. Exceptions to this general rule include having the student for more than one year or supervising her in other capacities, similar clubs or sports.

You lot tin brainstorm the letter with a creative or tricky hook, or a more straightforward statement of endorsement, every bit long every bit you include these central components in the introduction. Here are a few examples.

Information technology is my great pleasure to provide this recommendation for Kate, who I enjoyed teaching and getting to know equally her 11th grade AP U.S. History teacher.

I have known Joe since 2012 in my position as Lincoln High School's Biology teacher.

I am delighted to write this recommendation for Rosa, whom I have known for two years as her Psychology teacher and academic advisor.

Please accept this letter as my enthusiastic endorsement of Chris, the peak student in my 11th grade AP Chemical science class.

After introducing the student, your human relationship with her, and your statement of recommendation, you tin go along to provide your evaluation, while keeping in mind the above mentioned suggestions, like focusing on important themes and using specific stories, powerful language, and a statement of ranking. If y'all want to remainder out your recommendation by presenting a weakness, I would suggest doing so in a mild manner, possibly with an caption of how that weakness could be turned into a strength.

In your letter's conclusion, it'south a good thought to recapitulate your back up for the student, while besides talking most how you envision the educatee beingness successful at college. Admissions officers want to build a stiff, dynamic, and diverse class with a range of abilities and interests. By attesting to the student's potential for future success and contributions at campus, yous can reassure admissions officers that she is a educatee they want at their school.

Finally, you can conclude your letter of the alphabet with your contact information and an invitation to telephone call or email you with any further questions. Utilize an official letterhead, and welcome them to get in touch for any further discussion of the student.

To sum up, permit's get over the do's and don't's of writing recommendation letters for students applying to higher.

Key Points to Remember

Do:

• Include cardinal content, like who yous're recommending, who you are, how you know the student, and what makes y'all qualified to evaluate her.
• Be enthusiastic in your recommendation, discussing both a educatee's academic power and potential and her character and personality.
• Highlight a few key qualities that y'all remember are essential for admissions officers to understand who the student is and what she tin can achieve.
• Use specific stories, examples, and anecdotes to support your evaluation.
• Be intentional in your word option, making sure to powerful words and phrases and to avoid cliches.
• Provide a loftier and impressive ranking, when applicative.
• Conclude with a strong statement of support, vision of the student's hereafter success, and invitation to the admissions committee to follow up with yous if need be.

Don't:

• Simply repeat resume points or quantitative data that are already listed on other parts of the application.
• Cast too broad a net and cease upwards saying very little, considering you tried to say too much.
• List adjectives without having examples to back them up.
• Use generic, banal, unenthusiastic language or cliche statements.
• Use similar letters for more than one pupil, especially if the students are applying to the same schools (the aforementioned admissions officers will run into this!)
• Agree to provide a letter of recommendation unless yous tin honestly recommend a student.

Finally, not all students develop strong connections with their teachers, perhaps because they have trouble participating in course or their school has a large teacher to student ratio. To aid you write your recommendation, students may provide a "brag sheet," where they talk well-nigh their goals and what's important to them, as well as a resume. If you need more information or time to talk to the student, it can aid to meet with her and take a conversation or two. I always found the easiest letters to write were for students who were open up and eager to share their plans and personality.

If you experience y'all haven't gotten to know a student besides equally you demand to to write a compelling and insightful alphabetic character, and then information technology may help to arm-twist her thoughts and feelings, besides equally make time to become to know her better. As long as you take the raw materials, in terms of a adept human relationship, stories, and observations, then y'all tin apply these suggestions and examples to craft a thoughtful, customized letter of recommendation that volition assist her become into college.

As you write, recollect your mission: to differentiate the educatee as a unique and impressive candidate, to shed lite on both her intellectual and personal qualities, and to requite admissions officers a holistic view of the person that volition evidence up on campus in next year's form.

What'south Next?

Some of the about helpful resources for me every bit I wrote recommendation letters for students were examples of smashing and bad letters. Check back soon for our manufactures with great letters, bad letters, and a suggested recommendation letter template.

While recommendation messages are important for all schools, they must exist especially outstanding to help a student get into the Ivy League. Check out our complete guide to Harvard recommendation letters.

Want to better your Saturday score past 160 points or your ACT score by four points? We've written a guide for each test about the top five strategies you must be using to take a shot at improving your score. Download information technology for free now:

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Well-nigh the Author

Rebecca graduated with her Master's in Adolescent Counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has years of didactics and college counseling feel and is passionate about helping students attain their goals and improve their well-being. She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University and scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/writing-a-letter-of-recommendation-how-to-for-student

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