Letters of Rec. process Guidance

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Anthockey00

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I am about to start the process of acquiring letters of rec. for Psy.D/Ph.D programs. I have my professors selected and ready.

Here is my problem:
While conducting my perspective-school search I found individual letter of rec. forms for each school. I know that each professor will only have to write one of those "from the heart statements" that is good to submit to each school. However, does this mean that if I apply to 10 schools my 3 professors have to fill out 10 of those individually different forms from each school?

Some guidance about this and any other Letters of Rec. suggestions/tips is greatly appreciated.
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Yes, that's what it means. In fact some schools even have different requirements for what the letters must say, so the profs DO have to write many letters that vary slightly from each other. However, my advisor from last year assured me that as soon as the first one is written the rest are a lot less time consuming and difficult.

You need to print out the copies of the forms, give them to your letter writers, and ask them to do it. They'll be used to it, it's part of the job. What I did was because I applied to 13 schools, I got 13 envelopes for each prof, put the 13 school-specific sheets in the envelopes, then included a list of which envelopes needed to come back to me and which ones were to be mailed directly to the schools (this will vary, you'll need to check). I included stamps for the ones that had to be mailed. As long as you make it as convenient as possible for your letter writers, it won't be a huge inconvenience. As a thank-you I gave each of them a small present after applications were over.
 
thank you so much. Perfect information
 
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RayneeDeigh said:
I got 13 envelopes for each prof, put the 13 school-specific sheets in the envelopes, then included a list of which envelopes needed to come back to me and which ones were to be mailed directly to the schools (this will vary, you'll need to check). I included stamps for the ones that had to be mailed. As long as you make it as convenient as possible for your letter writers, it won't be a huge inconvenience. As a thank-you I gave each of them a small present after applications were over.
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Excellent advice!!

-t
 
No problemo, good luck. I found asking for letters to be the most stressful part of it all, hands down. Once that's over everything else is pretty easy in comparison.
 
Everything but the dreaded wait, that is. :p
 
Question: What types of "gifts" have you given to your letter writers?? Is it considered appropriate by all profs to accept a gift??
 
. this posted way too many times.
 
That's how it works, but don't worry, any prof who has ever written a LoR before knows that is coming. Most of the forms aren't overly time-consuming, and not EVERY school requires them (I think 9 or so of the 13 I applied to did).

Follow Raynee's advice regarding how to set it up, but I will also say to give the professors a copy of your CV, and a draft of your personal statement as well. Doesn't have to be in its final form, but it can help them write a draft.

I actually bought binders and made it up for all of them with personal statements, a list of schools and due dates, my CV, a list of the professors I want to work with at each school and breakdowns of their current research, etc.

I can't even imagine how hard it would be to coordinate letter-writing for 5-10 students. Apparently they were appreciative of this since one of them asked if she could show it to future students (I was flattered). It probably never hurts to show them how on top of things you are write before they write what is arguably the most important piece of any grad school application:)

Also....and this is key. TELL THE PROFESSORS THE LETTERS ARE DUE A WEEK BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY ARE.

Trust me on that. You'll understand why once the process begins.
 
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One thing I did was to fill out all their details for them too, so all they had to do was write the LOR and not their names/job title/address multiple times for each letter.

Also, with the advent of online LORs, it may be good to ask your letter writers which format they prefer too. I personally had a professor who would only do online LORs as a last resort because it was more time-consuming than a hardcopy one.
 
The schools which have on-line recommendation submissions available are smart and very considerate to the writers of the letters. Some of these schools which are served by the same computer company actually give the writer the ability to save their letter and reuse it. The letters are immediately registered and you can keep track of them when they are submitted. Also, I was told by a letter writer that one on-line recommendation form actually adapted itself when he was asked how he knew me, i.e. in a professional or academic setting. I can't understand why some schools lag behind technologically in the application process - it doesn't really say much about the school.
 
RayneeDeigh said:
Yes, that's what it means. In fact some schools even have different requirements for what the letters must say, so the profs DO have to write many letters that vary slightly from each other. However, my advisor from last year assured me that as soon as the first one is written the rest are a lot less time consuming and difficult.

You need to print out the copies of the forms, give them to your letter writers, and ask them to do it. They'll be used to it, it's part of the job. What I did was because I applied to 13 schools, I got 13 envelopes for each prof, put the 13 school-specific sheets in the envelopes, then included a list of which envelopes needed to come back to me and which ones were to be mailed directly to the schools (this will vary, you'll need to check). I included stamps for the ones that had to be mailed. As long as you make it as convenient as possible for your letter writers, it won't be a huge inconvenience. As a thank-you I gave each of them a small present after applications were over.
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This is what I did as well.


And I read online to not tell a prof 2 weeks ahead of the deadline. I e-mail them a month ahead of the deadline to remind them, so it gives them more time.

I also put a yellow sticky with the deadline date on each application..so it would be right in front of them when e-mailing it.
 
GiantSteps said:
The schools which have on-line recommendation submissions available are smart and very considerate to the writers of the letters. Some of these schools which are served by the same computer company actually give the writer the ability to save their letter and reuse it. The letters are immediately registered and you can keep track of them when they are submitted. Also, I was told by a letter writer that one on-line recommendation form actually adapted itself when he was asked how he knew me, i.e. in a professional or academic setting. I can't understand why some schools lag behind technologically in the application process - it doesn't really say much about the school.
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Well many profs prefer doing their LOR the old school way. But I agree that soon enough, all schools should give profs the option of doing them by mail or online.
 
Oh yeah, Ollie just reminded me that I forgot to mention I included a copy of my CV, the completed part of my undergrad thesis (in case they wanted to see my writing), a transcript so that they could see my grades, and my statements of purpose. Perhaps overkill, but I wanted them to be as prepared as possible 'cause I dreaded those letters that just say "so-and-so is a good student who got an A in my class".


As for presents, for two of my letter-writers I made soap, and for the third who was my advisor, my mom made her a quilt and we got her earrings I think. But we're really close so I think if you did that for a prof you just met that would be a little creepy. :laugh:
 
Everything everyone has said so far is great advice. I'm just going to echo the most important part, BE ORGANIZED. I was crazily, compulsively organized and everyone who I came into contact with appreciated it. Just imagine how much work it is for you do all the organizing... if you didn't do it, you'd be asking your letter writers to spend all that excess time on it, which they could be spending on the actual letter. Plus, there's more of a chance that letters/forms won't get mixed up if you put them in their own envelopes and such... not that I've heard of this happening, but it could.

As far as thank yous, I definitely did this too... at the very least, thank you cards... I ended up giving a cheesecake, cookies, and a Starbucks gift card to my 3 letter writers. It's really important to thank them, and you never know when you might need them to send out another copy of that letter.

Good luck with the asking!! The asking itself was the hardest for me, so once you do that, you're golden!
 
My experience is that some teachers were very happy to do this for me. Some teachers are really dedicated to helping out their students, so asking for a LOR isn't that bad. There is always a teacher in the faculty that has a reputation for being really sweet, approachable and motherly/fatherly. Your best bet is that these professors won't refuse to write you an LOR.

One school lost or claimed that they never received an LOR, when a professor of mine did send it out. If it's not too much, ask professors to save a copy for their records. My professor was mad that she had to re-do one.
 
Ahh, rec letters, I remember actually pulling an all-nighter to get all my materials to my professors because I promised they would have them by a certain date. Don't do that. All the professors who wrote my letters had a set list of things they wanted to see (CV, personal statement, etc) so included those. I also included a note on how the professor knew me (though they pretty much knew, I was close with my recommenders) and copies of my transcripts. I am not sure if these helped at all, but I just tried to give them more than they needed so that way they had everything they needed.

I agree on providing addressed stamped envelopes, this is important. Also, make sure that your printer can print on the envelopes or you will freak out like me the night before. I also found it to be very important to include a checklist for the professors so they knew what was required for each school as well as when each letter was due (though all but one gave me all the letters at the first deadline).

Organization is key with this process and I highly recommend starting before you think you need to. It may seem like it is just putting some info in some envelopes, but it isn't. I found the same thing when I was preparinng my applications...it seems easy enough to print everything out and send it in but I spent over an hour on each application doing one last check, ensuring that everything was there, and what not. EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER THAN YOU THINK IT SHOULD.
 
A few minor things (since everyone on this thread has already given really awesome tips): Send each letter-writer a sheet that lists all the contact info for the schools you're applying to. Include with each school the name of the prof you want to work with. You don't know who went to school with who, and you might stumble over a personal connection somewhere! I'd also suggest listing what specifically that prof works on.

Check out about the envelopes and things like that, and find out what the prof wants to do. If you're lucky enough to have a reccer who's in the dean's office (;)), that Dean's stationary looks a LOT nicer than even the fancy white paper from Staples.

Also, I just sent everything in one package, letters and all. I checked with the unis I applied to beforehand, and all of them said it was fine to do that (even though some depts. said they wanted letters sent straight from the profs). The prof's letters were still sealed and signed on the back, but everything left at the same time. I thought this was a much cleaner way of handling things--no worrying that something was delayed over the border, no having to check if the school got anything other than my one huge mailing.
 
Are most of you advocating that you would rather have your writers of your rec letters do it on paper than on-line if given the option? Or are you all just discussing when the on-line option is not available?

The paper method is basically crazy and, if it can be avoided, should. Besides with the letter and the paper form, you have to worry about: getting all the information to the writer; the addresses being correct; the envelope matching the forms; stamps; inefficient mail service; and, the writer remembering to SIGN THE BACK OF THE ENVELOPE!:eek: I think for now on, whenever I send a letter of any form, I will sign the back of the envelope. In fact, I will also insist that any letter I receive must be signed accross the back. So when I get back responses from schools either positive or negative if they are not signed I will refuse to accept them. Especially, rejections! I intend to call up the schools which do not give me an interview and say "I did not receive a decision letter from you." To which they will reply that they sent it out. Then I will say "Oh I am sorry but the letter you sent me was not official since you neglected to sign it accross the back so you missed the deadline. Therefore, you must either accept me unconditionally or refund my money. I really feel bad for you but I strictly enforce my deadlines."
 
You know when you are stressed about applying when......

I remember having a nightmare about getting my letters in, but some didn't have a signed back flap, and hoping the schools wouldn't notice! :scared: I woke up, stumbled over to my Pile O' Letters and checked every last one of them. Thankfully I was a month or so ahead of schedule, but I was still freaking out about getting everything in on time!

Ironically, I came across a couple of my letters the other day (I ended up not applying to a IoP). I was looking for an old CV and I stumbled across them...good times!

:D

-t
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
You know when you are stressed about applying when......

I remember having a nightmare about getting my letters in, but some didn't have a signed back flap, and hoping the schools wouldn't notice! :scared: I woke up, stumbled over to my Pile O' Letters and checked every last one of them. Thankfully I was a month or so ahead of schedule, but I was still freaking out about getting everything in on time!

Ironically, I came across a couple of my letters the other day (I ended up not applying to a IoP). I was looking for an old CV and I stumbled across them...good times!

:D-t
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See, Therapist4Chnge, by using the on-line rec letter method you would not have had a nightmare.

Even worse, now you have unused letters in your home which are signed across the back and which you legally waived your right to read (don't admit you opened them!:laugh:) Even peaking a glimpse could put you behind bars. You might even wind up getting a criminal conviction if you are caught. You might get kicked out of your program, lose your ability to fully practice, and, worst of all, I would have to label you with a Personality Disorder! :laugh:

Sure, making your writer go on-line might expose him/ her to the risk of seeing porn (what a recommendation that would make!:laugh:) but at least that is better than all the terrible things which could happen when you use paper forms!
 
They didn't have online apps when I was applying! I think a couple schools had their forms available online to print, but that was it. Instead of leaving that up to my profs, I used hard copies and dropped off folders with everything in them.

Speaking of, I owe a couple of my LOR people updates! It is pretty neat that I am about to be their colleagues.

It goes by quick, just wait!

-t
 
I had one prof who wouldn't complete the school specific forms (and also refused to do anything online). It was no big deal, I got into many places and he was my primary research prof and my only academic reference. I just gave him the envelopes and his secretary sealed and signed the back, but he never completed the "check the box" forms.

For gifts, since it was holiday season, I sent my three recommenders gifts baskets from a service, with cheese, wine, chocolate, biscuits, etc.
 
Cosmo 23 said:
I had one prof who wouldn't complete the school specific forms (and also refused to do anything online).
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It is important thing to remember that though academia may have some fun high-tech stuff on campus, not everyone is into it. I had a professor who was very old school (teaching since the 60's) and he did not use a computer, ever. He was more than happy to do hardcopy stuff, but I had to give him everything in an envelope. He would hand write his letters and then have an admin type it up. Yet another professor I owe a letter to! (I would just e-mail him, but it'd end up with the other 100,000+ in his e-mail box he never checks!)

-t
 
I think professors like that are a rarity these days though. I've seen varying degrees of computer literacy in our department, but I think it would be near-impossible to match the productivity of new professors if your doing lit searches and analyses by hand. I shudder even thinking about research without PsycInfo and SPSS.

I'm very pro-online forms for one reason. You know immediately if the school got it. Makes it VERY easy to keep track of who did or didn't send their letters in, and if you check the day before the apps are due and see "x hasn't submitted yet" you can call their cellphone and interrupt them at a conference like I did;) (whoopsie....).
 
I'm late to the table on this one (as usual, it seems).There has been great advice so far, most of which I did also, but I will say a couple of things.

Don't forget to put the recommender's return address on the envelopes you give them! I did not do this (lack of foresight) and my writer's had to print labels or use their home address stickers because they were using my envelopes that were pre-stamped.

As for gifts, I wrote a note on a thank-you card, and gave each a small box of Godiva chocolates. One thanked me for the thank-you, one told me I needn't have done that, and the other didn't say anything.

Many of the schools I applied to had a place for you to put in your recommender's names and their emails. I didn't know this at the time, but the school then sends email reminders to the professors. Nice that they nag instead of you. Having said that, I would definitely take others' advice about telling your writers the letters are due 2 weeks before they really are. The schools know that you have no control about when those letters are completed, but they will only give you so much time over the limit. I had a friend who's application was set aside only because one of her writers missed the deadline by a couple of weeks (she wound up sending it in finally, I think a month late). She was waitlisted at that school, but never got in. Sucketh, big time.

With that example in mind, you should also be really choosey who you ask to write for you. Make sure it isn't someone who is always behind and not getting things done for class or lab when they say they will. I also got the advice to ask a 4th person to write for you. Even though most schools only require 3 letters, they will accept more, and this gives you a spare in case someone bails as in the case of my friend.

...once again I am reminded how grateful I should be that I am not doing this again this cycle... :p
 
Ollie123 said:
I think professors like that are a rarity these days though. I've seen varying degrees of computer literacy in our department, but I think it would be near-impossible to match the productivity of new professors if your doing lit searches and analyses by hand. I shudder even thinking about research without PsycInfo and SPSS.

I'm very pro-online forms for one reason. You know immediately if the school got it. Makes it VERY easy to keep track of who did or didn't send their letters in, and if you check the day before the apps are due and see "x hasn't submitted yet" you can call their cellphone and interrupt them at a conference like I did;) (whoopsie....).
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One of my writers was NOT a computer-user either! He had a big lab, though and his RA's did all the research and ran the stats. He's in his early 70's.

I had a bunch of schools that had no online updating for the applicant at all, and then others who emailed me once a week with an update on what had changed for my application. I think there are still a lot out there whose application processes are not automated beyond the basic application itself. It was frustrating to say the least.
 
I'm just amazed at the idea that people can still get things done without a computer. I'll never understand it. I lose internet for 30 minutes and I'm lost;)

MOST of my schools did not do the online updating, but I loved the 4 who did. Yale's in particular, stood out to me as just the easiest system ever. Straightforward, clean, easy to use, absolutely zero paper involved (you don't mail a single thing).

This was in stark contrast to UT-Austin, which has the single most irritating cluster-**** of an application process I have ever seen. I almost didn't apply because their web app was just too horrid for me to deal with, it ALWAYS crashed, wouldn't save things, would reformat questions, you would have to dig through 30000 sub-pages to find answers to simple questions....blech. If it wasn't an utterly fantastic school I would have said to hell with it about 20 minutes in when I was still working on getting it to take my name. I spent longer filling out my app there than I did for the remaining 12 schools combined.
 
I, like everyone here, start to have panic attacks when the power goes out and I have no internet. That said, I'm really not digging the online letters of recommendation trend. I like doing stuff on paper, so I know exactly where each envelope is going. Maybe I'm just weird (probably!)
 
I did the same thing with binders which proved very helpful- I also definitely recommend telling the professors that the due date is a week or two before it truly is.

As for gifts the people who wrote my recommendations and I became really close. I am in the wine business so I gave them all a bottle of wine which seemed to be really appreciated.
 
Hi everyone,
Thanks for the help.

Last year I applied and did not get in. At the end of the process I was too devastated to sufficiently thank my rec. writers (I sent a very thankful email and told them what happened). I want them to stay with me another round so . . .

What should I do now?
Bring them a gift and ask if they would be willing to do this for me again? Or maybe ask then give a gift a week later saying "thanks for sticking with me"? Or just forget about the gift until the end of this next cycle?

Also: Who?
I have worked with so many people since I graduated 2.5 years ago. All are MDs or PhDs except my current boss who is a MSW. Does this degree make a huge difference? I'm currently in a non-research clinical position and I'm applying to research-oriented or equal-emphasis programs.

How many?
Is asking 5 different people overkill?
 
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