How Can I get A

Recommendation Letter

From You?

If you are applying to graduate or professional schools, I am generally happy to write a recommendation letter from you. First, email me or come by my office hours to make sure I am an appropriate person to write the letter for you. Please inquire at least three weeks before the letter is due; more if I am away on sabbatical. Consult my contact page to see where and when to find me.

For current and former UCSC students, it is generally easiest to make use of the Graduate/Professional School Letter Service at the Career Center. You pay a small fee and sign off on a form, which you then bring or send to each of your recommenders. They compile all your recommendation letters and send copies of them out, as you direct, to the schools you name. If you choose this option, I strongly suggest you waive your rights to see the letter; in my experience, admissions committees place more value on confidential letters.

If you choose not to use the GRLS, make up a packet that contains recommender's forms for each of the schools to which you are applying, along with stamped, addressed envelopes for each one (UCSC policy is not to pay for postage for recommendations). Please send them all at once, and neatly collated, so as to minimize the grunt work for your recommenders.

If you're applying to a graduate program in my field, I would also like to see a copy (even if it's only a draft) of your personal statement. This helps me personalize the letter, as well as advise you on this crucial document.

Also include a list of programs to which you are applying.

You don't need to forward copies of your narrative evaluations, as I have ready access to them, or your papers for a course in which you were my student. The exception is if you were a student in a large lecture class where I did not personally grade your work; in that case, I may ask for copies of some of your best papers so that I can better qualify the judgment of your teaching assistant. If I haven't had the opportunity to know you very well, these supplementary materials can help make the letter stronger--though lack of personal contact may also be a reason for me to decline your request. You are always best served by having letters from faculty who know you and your work reasonably well.