3 Steps to Better Grad School Recommendation Letters
If you haven’t read my previous post about recommendation letters, check it out here! I discuss how to build relationships with your letter writers and get the best letters possible!
Let’s talk about letters of rec! These letters are a great way to boost your application but they should be specific and demonstrate why you would be a great grad student! I’m going to cover 3 things you can do to get the best recommendation letters possible for your engineering grad school application.
- Choose the right recommenders
Grad school is all about research so if you are trying to decide between multiple recommenders, try to choose advisors who can speak to your research experience and professors who can talk about your academic potential.
- Ask your recommenders to tie your experiences to your potential to be a good researcher.
Again, grad school is all about research! Even if you don’t have research experience, ask your recommenders to discuss why you would be a good graduate student. Be up front if you need them to talk about how your learning style etc. will lead you to be a productive and successful grad student.
- Divide your experiences, and skills between your recommenders.
Chances are, you have 3 recommenders, a personal statement and a resume. You don’t want them to all say the same thing! Ask your recommenders to speak to the things you can’t cover in your other application materials and don’t let them all talk about the same thing. Ask your research or internship advisors to speak really specifically about that experience and what you did and learned through the process. It is perfectly okay to give them a bulleted list of what they should talk about!
You can grab a recommendation letter planner here and, if you are applying to grad school, reach out to schedule a free 30-minute consultation! I can answer your questions and help you create your engineering grad school application plan! Reach me at natalie@sheengineered.com!
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