What is a recommendation letter in applying to Universities?

What is a Recommendation letter?

Although grade point averages and English Exams’ scores play a significant role in college or university admissions, most graduate programs do not base their decisions on numeric scores alone. Recommendation Letters play an important role in your application process.

Sometimes for different reasons, students will often find themselves in the position to write these letters themselves. The professor will, in this case, only proof-read and signs the text. In case you are one of the lucky ones who do not have to write recommendation letters, you should still read this section. You will find useful hints about how to properly handle this delicate part of the application process. The following information is provided in this section:

Recommendation letters are written by professors whom you have worked under or obtained good grades in their courses. They should know you well and be familiar with your projects. They can help the admission committee to get a better picture of your potential.

Every part of your application creates the image of your personality in the minds of the admissions committee members. The recommendation letters provide a third person perspective on the kind of a person you are. What a recommendation letter says about you should supplement the image you are trying to project.

what is the Importance of Recommendation letters in applying t US universities?

Highly competitive programs may simply use grade point averages and English exams scores as a screening device to reduce the size of their applicant pool. In such a situation, letters of recommendation can be extremely important. Hence, good recommendations can serve as a powerful tool to ‘sell’ you to the committee.

Your recommendations are important because they verify your claims and provide the admissions committee an opportunity to learn more about you from people you have worked closely with

How many Recommendation Letters do we need?

For an MS or Doctoral program, you should get at least two recommendations from your professors.

Choosing the appropriate mix of recommenders largely depends on the program you are applying for. For an MBA program, two recommendations from work and one from school is generally a good balance.