Sharing Good Practice
5 TIPS for Writing a Great Letter
of Recommendation
By Dr Kerrin Barrett
D
uring the college admissions
season each year, high school
teachers in the region and
counsellors are often asked
to write letters of recommendation
for their students. For US-bound
high school seniors from the Middle
East, these letters are an important
part of a holistic college admissions
process that places great importance
on every aspect of the student’s
application. Including solid letters of
recommendation in the application aids
admissions officers in determining that
a student is capable of doing universitylevel work and whether or not he or
she will be a contributor on campus
and in the classroom. These letters
have to be formulaic in nature, in order
to cover key elements of a student’s
academic achievement, extracurricular
activities and personality.
Strong
letters significantly increase students’
chances of admission, while weak,
general letters detract from the overall
admissions application.
Here are the Top 5 Tips
for writing the perfect
recommendation letter:
State how you know the
student and in what context.
Begin the letter describing your
relationship with the student. Is he
a top student in your class? Team
captain of a sports team you
coach? Do you know him or her in
your role as a mentor or guidance
counsellor? How long have you
known him or her? Describe the
environment in which you know
the student to provide context for
the overall letter.
or her classmates? All students have
something unique about them. Three
or four colourful sentences will help
your prospective college student
stand out from the crowd.
Tell a short story about what
makes the student especially
suited for college.
Strong
recommendation
letters
all have an element of storytelling
that captures the attention of
weary admissions officers reviewing
application after application into the
wee hours of the morning. What short
story can you tell about the student
that will highlight the student’s
strengths and achievements? Did he or
she do something out of the ordinary?
Take initiative in class or outside the
classroom? Show leadership?
Detail the student’s academic
strengths and achievements,
citing specific examples of
work.
This is the place to discuss specific
examples of a student’s academic
work. What subject did you teach the
student? Did the student consistently
score highly on exams?
Did the
student demonstrate creativity in a
class project? Is the student a team
player and does he or she collaborate
well in group work? This section of
the letter should clearly articulate the
Talk about the student’s
unique abilities and
personality. Show you
know the student very
well!
Does the student have a special
talent?
What makes that
particular student different from
the rest of your students? Was
there ever a time when he or she
went the extra mile for a project
32 |
Jan - Feb 2015
|
|
Class Time
student’s readiness for college level
academics.
Suggest how the student
will contribute to the college
or university outside of the
classroom.
Admissions application reviewers are
also interested in how prospective
students will give back. Students who
have a solid track record of service
to school and community will quite
naturally be likely to continue their
service while in university. Be sure to
write a sentence or two about how you
envision your student contributing to
campus life, and even whether or not
you believe the student will become
one of the university’s pre-eminent
alumni.
Finally, make sure to state clearly in the
final paragraph that you are “highly
recommending” the student for that
particular college and degree program,
and to give his or her application for
admission “serious consideration”.
Your time and effort spent writing
strong letters of recommendation
will be repaid in seeing your students
reach their first big goal in life that will
open many doors to a brighter future.
Dr. Barrett is an educator with
more than 20 years experience and
leadership in education.