• 2020/6/21 11:08
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To apply for a prestigious Canadian school, especially for a master's degree and a doctorate, a recommendation letter from the original school tutor is essential. Every time the school application season, admissions officers of major universities have to read a large number of recommendation letters, so it is very important for the tutors to write a recommendation letter that impresses the admissions officer.

Referrer's Choice

In the selection of recommenders, we must follow the two principles of familiarity and professionalism.

1. The recommender should be familiar with the applicant's study and work. The recommender must clearly understand the applicant's motivation and study plan to study abroad. It is best to have a close communication. On this basis, if the recommender is a foreign professor, and the professor is very familiar with the applicant’s school, this kind of recommendation can often achieve twice the result with half the effort. Of course, few applicants can find such qualified recommendations Person; if the referrer has nothing to do with the applied school, then look for experts who are well-known in the applicant’s application, such as academicians and other titles, often participate in international exchanges, such a recommendation letter It is also not to be ignored, but it is also difficult to find a recommendation letter from such an expert; so for most applicants, it is still mainly to find acquaintances, because the acquaintances are easy to speak, it will be relatively easy to match your application Second, it is more reasonable in the opinion of the jury.

2. The identity of the recommender should be reasonable, preferably in a related major. If the applicant is a student who is still in school, the better choice should be the department head, professional teacher, class teacher, or the witness of extra-curricular activities and social activities as the recommender; if the applicant has graduated or joined the work, You can also choose your direct supervisor, or college graduation thesis guide as a recommender. There is no need to find someone who is unfamiliar with the applicant's major, an academician or the president of a large company who is not familiar with the applicant as your recommender.

Writing requirement

Very few people in China are willing to write letters of recommendation to others in person. They are generally highly respected old professors or young teachers returning from studying abroad. Therefore, most Chinese applicants write their recommendation letters in English in the tone of the recommender, and then ask the recommender to sign. In this case, it is best to make a draft in Chinese for the recommender to read, and then translate it into English if the recommender agrees.

So after identifying the recommender, you should carefully consider what aspects should be emphasized before writing the recommendation letter. If you only search the template from the Internet and modify it, you will find that basically all the recommendation letters of Chinese students are the same, so it does not leave an impression on the school’s admissions officer, and it does not play its due role, so It is very important that the recommendation letter has a main flash point.

The content of the recommendation letter should be more specific or more general. The recommendation letter of the overseas study editor recommends that the recommendation letter written by the recommender should not be too specific, because people with higher social status are busy working. If they write Is too specific, but it will greatly reduce the credibility of the recommendation letter. However, if the recommender is more familiar with the applicant, you can write a more specific one. And you can use some more specific examples as his reason for recommending you, because if a recommendation letter only contains praise, but there is no example to support it, it will appear more empty, and it will not increase the admissions officer’s Any understanding. At the same time, in order to increase the authenticity of the recommendation letter, you can also write down some minor defects that are not very important but very pertinent. In fact, on the other hand, this is a smart strategy.

For applicants, they have to recommend themselves in three different ways, so pay attention to the following points:

1. Objectively evaluate your achievements and avoid excessive praise. The recommendation letter should indicate that the recommender has a certain understanding of the applicant’s motives and can explain the applicant’s needs for further education.

2. List specific examples to avoid expressing meaning too broadly. The recommendation letter supports the applicant's important qualities and ability requirements with examples. As your professor or boss, it should also be very easy to cite your specific performance in work and study.

3. Change the language style and thinking angle, which can increase the credibility of the recommendation letter. When describing some important achievements and advantages, you should start from the point of view of the recommender, and also pay attention to the change in language style and words, avoid the words and tone that you often use in the readme, and avoid three recommendations. The letter appeared similar.

4. To avoid grammar, spelling, and some obvious wording errors. If there is an error in the recommendation letter, this will also have an effect on the recommendation letter.

5. The recommendation letter should not be too long. Generally speaking, it is more suitable to be within 500 English.

Structure of recommendation letter

The structure of the recommendation letter is relatively uniform, especially the beginning and end of the two paragraphs roughly mean the same.

1. The first paragraph should first introduce the relationship between the recommender and the applicant, under what circumstances and how long have you known each other; and it should be clear in the first paragraph that the recommender is very willing to recommend the applicant to this school.

2. The general second paragraph is the evaluation of the recommender to the applicant. It can also show why the recommender is impressed by the applicant, and then give an example to confirm the evaluation structure of the recommender to the applicant. If there are many expressions, this part can also be written in two paragraphs.

3. The third paragraph is mainly a summary of the characteristics of the applicant, or the recommender thinks about the applicant's potential for development in this major, and can also write some words such as gratitude to the school admissions officer.

Other considerations

1. Be careful not to use too general vocabulary when expanding the specific description, such as nice and good. It is best to have specific examples after the description. Simply outline the reason for recommendation with fresh and concise facts. The content is persuasive only if it is specific. It is better to say that someone is a better student than someone who is the top 5 out of 100 people. At the same time, the length should not be too long. Never write the recommendation letter into a small personal statement. In short, a good recommendation letter should be fluent. The letter should be based not only on the facts of blood and flesh, but also on the analysis of the outline and leadership, rather than being vainly touted. In addition, different recommendation letters should have different writing methods, and cannot begin with the same sentence patterns as Dear Sir or Madam, It's a pleasure to recommend. The font, size and page settings of each recommendation letter should be different.

2. Some schools have provided a recommendation letter form, so as long as the content is filled in. If it is not provided, it is best to use envelopes and stationery with the name of the recommender unit printed, and to print with a laser printer. The signature of the recommender is required at the seal of the envelope. The recommendation letter can be sent together with the application form, but remember to write the contact address of the recommender and the other school on the front of the envelope so that the other school can check it.

3. Generally, three letters of recommendation are required to apply for master's degree or doctoral degree. It is usually best to choose different types of people, such as the company’s direct leaders, colleagues, university teachers or class teachers, so that you can describe the merits of the applicant from different sides, and also allow the school’s admissions officer to understand the applicant from more aspects. Good letters of recommendation will even help applicants get admissions and scholarships from the school, while poor ones, especially those with general content and confusing recommendation letters, will often result in the application failing.

Common problems

1. Exhaustion of all adjectives expressing human virtue, talent and excellence, without a concrete example. We all know that "facts speak louder than words," but the recommendation letter we showed to foreigners did the opposite.

2. It is unbelievable to always blow the applicant into a master. Many recommenders "specially admire" their students and "have never encountered such a genius in their lifetime."

3. The content is the same, so people can copy it at a glance. Almost every recommendation letter has such a description: all other students in the class can’t answer a certain question. Only this genius stood up and talked, “showing profound skills and creativity.” But there is no one The applicant could tell what topic was being talked about.

4. The recommender is not selected correctly. As a recommender, you should generally have the following conditions. One is that you must have a higher position or more knowledge than the recommended person, so that you have the ability and qualification to judge the recommended person. Another essential condition is that the recommender must have the opportunity to learn about the recommended person. So the suitable recommender should be the professor who has taught you or directed you, or the head supervisor in the work unit.

5. Sloppy and sloppy when writing. Many applicants write three letters of recommendation to themselves in one go (the general requirement is three), and then ask three professors to sign. In this way, not only the content is the same, the tone is similar, the words are also similar, and even the grammar and spelling errors are exactly the same. What's more, the printed fonts are also the same.

Summary of main points

1. It is necessary to point out the uniqueness and speciality of the student: the recommendation letter of the tutor can write about the speciality of the student, for example, he has a special exploration spirit, can put forward a unique point of view, diligent in thinking, etc.

2. To have facts and details: The recommendation letter should include specific student cases and details, instead of just a simple sentence of "strong ability".

3. Be objective and neutral: the recommendation letter should not overstate or exaggerate the facts. Outstanding advantages, shortcomings can be taken in one stroke.

4. Be emotional: the tutor should express his love and appreciation for the students in the recommendation letter, as well as support and encourage his higher academic pursuit.

Other preparations

Recommendation letters in different disciplines have different emphases. Students can do their homework in the following areas before asking the instructor to write a recommendation letter:

1. Communicate with tutors more often, and be proactive in class, strive to make a good impression on tutors, and also add points to your future graduate and doctoral applications.

2. Learn more about the requirements of colleges and majors you want to apply for in the future. You can go to the school's official website or search for other relevant materials to prepare yourself for academic achievements and comprehensive qualities in advance.

Letter of Recommendation Template

Let's take a look at a template of a recommendation letter from the University of California, Berkeley school website.

Dear [recipient’s name] or To Whom It May Concern:

It is my pleasure to recommend Jane Doe for admission to [name of program] at [name of university]. I am a fifth-year Ph.D. student at the University of California, Berkeley. I came to know Jane when I was her Graduate Student Instructor for Philosophy 111: Ethical Relativism, taught by Professor John Smith. The course comprised [short description of course]. Jane distinguished herself by submitting an exceptionally well researched and interesting project on ethical practices in ancient Greece. I would rank her in the top 2% of students that I have taught in the past five years in respect of her writing ability and research skills.

Overall, Jane is highly intelligent and has good analytical skills. Her project on ethical practices in ancient Greece demonstrated her ability to come a detailed understanding of the ethical practices of another, very different, culture, and to analyze the consequences of those practices for contemporary ethical theories. She gave a particularly interesting discussion of the difficult practice of infanticide, and showed both sensitivity and detachment when discussing its ethical consequences. Her overall intelligence is also reflected in her grades for the course, which were by far the best in the class.

Jane has excellent communication skills. Her written work is both clear and concise, as well as interesting to read. She demonstrated her oral articulateness in the discussion sections that were an integral part of the course. Each discussion section focused on a particular ethical dilemma. Students were required analyze morally problematic situations, and to develop and argue for their own ethical views with regard to the issue in question. Jane was highly proficient in applying the course material in analyzing the problem situations. She always explained her views very concisely and gave supporting arguments that were both clear and persuasive. Jane also demonstrated good teamwork skills in group assignments.

At a personal level, Jane is a well disciplined, industrious student with a pleasant personality. She went well beyond the course requirements in the quantity and quality of her project, putting in a lot of extra research and attending office hours every week. Throughout the course, Jane demonstrated great perseverance and initiative. Not only was she interested in and motivated to learn the material, but she also put great work into assimilating it to her own experience and developing her own ideas about each ethical topic that we discussed.

Jane is unquestionably an exceptional candidate for graduate study in Ethics. Jane’s work in Philosophy 111 suggests that she would greatly benefit from the opportunities for intellectual development provided by a sustained period of graduate study. She has proven herself to have the perseverance, initiative, and Sample letter of recommendation intellectual creativity necessary to complete an advanced graduate degree. I would therefore highly recommend Jane Doe. If her performance in my class is a good indication of how she would perform as a graduate student, she would be an extremely positive asset to your program.

If I can be of any further assistance, or provide you with any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,
[Sender’s signature]
[Sender’s name and title]

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