Augsburg College: Psychology Department

Seeking Letters of Recommendation from Faculty Members

In order for faculty members to be able to write informative letters of recommendation, they need to know you beyond your classroom performance. The page on the Excellent Student describes a number of ways to become involved academically outside of class. It is a good idea to make a point to visit professors during their office hours, particularly when you are NOT having problems with a class. You would be astonished at how few students just stop by to chat about a subject because they're interested in it, and at how memorable a faculty member finds this.

Faculty members are generally happy to write letters of recommendation (LOR) for students. However, this is a professional courtesy rather than a student right. Writing LORs takes considerable effort; be considerate of the faculty member's time and other obligations. Don't just assume that a faculty member will agree to write; have the courtesy to ask.

Early in your college career, make an appointment to discuss your plans for graduate school with your advisor or other faculty member. Do this as soon as you develop any interest in grad school. This might be as early as your sophomore year. Faculty members can offer much good advice on the general graduate application process.

During fall of your senior year, make an appointment to request letters of recommendation with faculty members. Discuss your plans with them. Make sure they are aware of your motivations for seeking graduate training -- this will help them to write better letters.

Give faculty members as much time as possible to write the letters. A month or longer is a good amount of time. Faculty are very busy -- a week or so before your letter is due, check back with the faculty member to make sure the letter has been sent. Things that are not time critical -- like writing LORs -- often get put in a pile and not gotten to. You're doing a service for the faculty member in reminding them; you aren't bugging them.

Most of the faculty member's effort goes into writing the text of the first letter. There's relatively little work for the subsequent ones. So it doesn't really matter if you ask for 1 letter, 3, or 9. For this reason, don't feel shy about asking the faculty member to write several letters of recommendation.

Provide the following general information in writing:

An unofficial transcript. Request from the Registrar. Highlight the courses you have taken from the faculty member.
Writing samples. If you did any papers or projects for the prof, list these. Provide copies of papers, particularly any that involve original research. Provide other samples of your writing from other classes.
You probably have written a personal statement, "this is my life," or "this is what I want out of grad school" narrative for your applications. Give a copy of this to the faculty member.
A copy of the curriculum vitae that you are including with your application. Include courses, internship, research, and/or other appropriate experiences, including major-related employment.

For each graduate program to which you are applying, give the following information:
- Is it a Ph.D. or a master's program?
- Give the specialty within the program (e.g., social, industrial/organizational, child, etc.)?
- What is the date when the letter is due?
- If there is an application form, include it. If the program only wants a letter written on college letterhead, say that.
- Any information about the program that will be useful to the LOR writer: brief program description, etc.
- Include a pre-addressed envelope for each application. Make sure it is neatly typed or hand written. Write the return address at the upper left-hand corner: use the following format (check with the faculty member to see what professional name is used):
- You do not need to provide postage -- Augsburg College will pay for this.