A letter of recommendation (LOR) is a document written by an employer or professor describing your skills, qualities, and qualifications. A well-drafted and targeted LOR can tremendously increase your chances of landing that dream job or university. It has become mandatory for almost all university applications and can carry between 10-20% of weightage. A LOR can validate and verify your skills and achievements as it typically comes from a reliable source.
To increase your chances of success, it is pivotal that the letter accurately highlights your ability to succeed in an academic program or a job. A well-developed LOR shows your potential to succeed in a particular field rather than focusing on cliche success ideas. It is always a great idea to ask a professor who taught you a subject directly related to your intended program of study. Such a LOR will tremendously help you target specialisation programs. This article will expand upon the top 10 tried and tested tips that one can employ to create a winning LOR.
1. Choose the Right Recommender
The very first question that pops up in one’s mind when they think about LOR is, “who will write this for me”? Well, this is certainly a valid concern as not choosing the right recommender can hurt your chances. A right recommender is someone with whom you spent enough time as a student or an employee. The right person will ensure that the letter is accurate and focused only on your specific qualities rather than generic ones. Think about a professor with whom you worked on a research project or completed a research internship. Choose a project manager who mentored you during a successful project. The targeted and unique LOR will ensure that you stand out from the rest.
2. Avoid generic adjectives
Dedicated, hardworking, passionate; well, these are some of the words that the admissions committee sees in almost every other LOR. Highlighting these qualities is acceptable only if backed by your unique skills and abilities. For instance, if you are applying for a doctorate program, your ability to work hard might be necessary, but you will also need to highlight your research skills. Similarly, a LOR for fashion design should show your creativity and not just your passion. Avoid generic adjectives and focus on your unique & special qualities to provide your LOR a unique invoice.
3. Use Anecdotes & Stories
Using anecdotes and stories is a great way the make the LOR engaging and pleasure read for the reader. They communicate not just what you accomplished but also how you accomplished it. Anecdotes show that the recommender has closely interacted with you and knows you well. If you completed a project with a professor or a project manager, then include various challenges that you went through along with details on how you overcame those. Adopt a narrative anecdotal way of writing to tell a story.
4. Do Your Research
While conducting an in-depth program and college research is crucial for SOP, it is vital for LOR and often neglected. Some programs may require you to answer specific questions in your LOR; hence you must check the different applications section and ensure that your letter responds well to those questions. The program page on the college website also provides you with a detailed picture of particular candidate qualities they are looking for. Therefore, the research can help you align the required qualities with those in your LOR.
5. Try to be Balanced
As already mentioned, the primary goal of LOR is to expand upon your accomplishments, qualities, and ability to succeed. However, while explaining the positives, you must showcase your resilience and ability to take feedback and work upon it. Along with your ability to succeed, the admissions committee is deeply interested in learning about your ability to learn and overcome challenges. Rather than portraying yourself as a flawless individual, a LOR should exemplify your growth-oriented mindset.
6. Use CAR Framework
The CAR technique or framework stands for Challenge, Action, and Result. The step-by-step framework contextualises the problem or challenge, explains your action, and showcases your impact with those sections. The admissions committee gets a full-fledged picture of your abilities and an in-depth understanding of your problem-solving ability. It is also possible that certain ideas can be foreign to abroad readers, hence explaining all the three components in detail can help you avoid filling those gaps.
7. Quantify your achievements
Quantifying your achievements provides the reader with more concrete and specific details on your accomplishments. While using adjectives to highlight your qualities is pivotal, the quantity shows the scale of your achievements. Combining qualitative with quantitative achievements provides the reader with a holistic and broad insight into your ability to succeed. Instead of simply mentioning that “Sonia was a consistent performer in the class, use “Sonia secured a 9.5 CGPA by consistently scoring in all my classes” .
8. Organise the Content
An accurately and well-structured LOR makes it a smooth & pleasurable read. Begin the letter by correctly introducing the recommender and your relationship with them. Mention the recommender’s designation; include the academic subjects if the letter comes from a professor. Include your accomplishments, projects, and other details in the main body while ensuring that you follow the CAR framework, quantify your achievements, and use anecdotes. Conclude with summarising all the points and recommending the student again for their intended study program.
9. Align with your other application components
Suppose your LOR focuses on a research project or a recent internship. In that case, you need to ensure that those details are available in your application’s other components, such as resume or SOP. The admissions committee will be evaluating your application as a whole hence it is vital that there is uniformity.
10. Seek Professional Help
With rising competition and lowering admission rates, seeking professional help can be your best bet. At Online Macha, we deploy all these tried and tested tips into developing a winning LOR that lands you into your dream university. Sign up today with our Professional LOR Writing Services and get that perfect, LOR.
