What to provide for a good letter of recc

[monkeyMD]

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I have tried the search function, but....

I will be asking for a letter of rec very soon, and was wondering what I need to provide to get a good one. Should I just include a cover letter, transcript, resume, the letter forms, an envelope...and....

Also, do I need to put all the materials in a yellow envelope???

Should I also include info about how to write rec letters...or what should ideally be included????

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ranna]

Some of my letter writers asked for certain things. If they didn't specify, I gave them my resume/CV, transcript, and personal statement. I also scheduled meetings with most of them to give us some time to sit down and talk about my application, my motivation, my goals and so on. I would imagine most of your letter writers are familiar with the process, so I wouldn't provide any information on how to write a letter unless they ask.

 

[Techmed07]

Some of my letter writers asked for certain things. If they didn't specify, I gave them my resume/CV, transcript, and personal statement. I also scheduled meetings with most of them to give us some time to sit down and talk about my application, my motivation, my goals and so on. I would imagine most of your letter writers are familiar with the process, so I wouldn't provide any information on how to write a letter unless they ask.[/QUOTE]


QFT,

Except for the bolded part. I brought my resume (on resume paper), a personal statement (did not have mine completed, so I had one that gain me entrance into a national program), and a cover letter (pretty much had my motivations, ect ect). Bring these matrials just in case... It makes you look good to see that you are prepare. Good Luck

 

[Spin]

I gave all of my letter writers a folder. In one side of the folder, I put:

- My most recent version of my personal statement
- A resume with my contact info
- A list of everything I had done in connection with that letter writer (ie, all the classes I took with Professor X + the community service project I helped him out with)
- A transcript, but two professors told me they didn't need it because they only cared how I did in their class

In the other side, I put:

- A brief explanation of what schools are looking for in letters
- Instructions for how to use Interfolio
- Addressed and stamped envelopes for Interfolio
- A simple timeline of what I planned to do in the upcoming year so that they could see why it was important for their letters to be done by X date

I also briefly went over the contents of the folder with my letter writers when I met with them to talk about it and ask if they could write one for me. It's nice for professors to know things like, "Oh, this is my personal statement. Every med school I apply to will see it, and you can use it to see exactly why I want to be a doctor" etc etc.

This is probably overkill, but it's all stuff you should think about including. I think the planning that went into putting the folder together impressed my letter writers. Good luck!