信建議寫法-2023修改整理

千里之行，始于足下讓知識(shí)帶有溫度。第第2頁(yè)/共2頁(yè)精品文檔推薦信建議寫法SomeyearsagoIwastalkingtoavisitingscholarwhowasafacultymemberinaforeigncountry.Iaskedherwhylettersfromhercountryseemedtobesouninformative.Shepointedoutthatthere,facultyneverreadletters:theyonlywritethem.Evengraduatestudentsareadmittedpurelyonthebasisoftestscores.

Thefactswerehardlysurprising—afterall,thisisthesystemIgrewupwithinIndia—butafterhearingthewaysheputit,theproverbialbulblitup.Ifyouneverevaluatelettersyourself,howwouldyouknowwhatlettersshouldandshouldn'tcontain?Thefeedback—admissiondecisions—isseeminglyrandom,andthereforeoflittleuse.Hencethisarticle.

Disclaimer:Thisisanextremelypersonalopinion.Itdoesn'trepresenttheviewsofmydepartmentormyuniversity.Moreimportantly,manyfacultymaydisagreewiththeopinionshere,sousethemwithcaution!Feedbackwelcome.

Whatthisdocumentisabout:WritingeffectiverecommendationlettersforPhDstudentsapplyingtocomputersciencePhDprogramsintheUS.

Whomthisisfor:Letter-writerswhoareunsureofwhatmakesforagoodletter.Thismayalsohelpstudentspreparebetterdossierstogivetheirletter-writers.

(Abravestudentmightevenpointherletter-writertothisarticle.)

Alsoread:MorHarchol-Balter'scomments,MichaelErnst'sadvice.

WhyLettersMatter

Doesanyonereadthelettersatall?Wedo,rigorously,sometimesascarefullyaswereadaresearchpaper:peninhand,circlingcomments,annotatingmargins,notingwhattheletterdidanddidn'tsay.

Infact,lettersaresoimportant,evenabadtranscriptcanbeoffsetbythem.Iknowastudentwhogotintoafinegraduateprogramwithjusta2.67GPA.Thisisbecausehis2.67wasspecial:heacedhardclassesandgotboredineasyones.Hisletterspresumablysaidso,andillustratedthiswithseveralanecdotes.So,notevery2.67isequal,andyourstudent'smaybeofjusttherightkind;butwewon'tknowthatwithoutyourletter.

MyConstraints(or,TheOne-MinuteRule)

WhenI'monthecommittee,Itrytoreadeveryapplication;whenIchairit,ImakesureIdo,somemultipletimes.That'smanyhundredsofapplicationsinunderamonth.Factorinlotsandlotsoflateletters,classes,etc.,andit'sclearIhavetoworkprettyfast.

Forthefirstpass—decidingwhethertheapplicationdeservesmoretimeornot—Icanaffordtospendnomorethanabout6-7minutesperapplication.(KeepinmindI'vereadmaybeafewthousandapplications,soI'vehadpractice.)IfIdecidetheapplicationispromising,Imayspendoverhalfanhour(insomecases,days!)onit.Butinthosefirst6-7minutes,Ihaveto:

?eyeballthestudent'sresearchrecord

?formasummaryofthetranscript

?glanceatthestandardizedtestscores

?determinewhetherthestatementispromising

?getthegistof2-3lettersofrecommendation

Inpractice,thatmeansIhaveaboutoneminutetodevotetothefirstreadingofyourletter.Nowthinkaboutwhetheryourletterworksinthiscontext.(Forinstance,someletterwritersputabig,prominentparagraphofboilerplatelegaleseatthebeginningoftheirletter,whichIhavetoreadbeforeIrealizeit'sirrelevant.Couldyouhaveburiedthatinapostscript?Wasthatthebestuseofmyminute?)

CallthistheOne-MinuteRuleandwrite,read,andre-readyourletteragainstthisrulebeforesendingitin.

BeConcrete

Ifyoutakeawayjustonepieceofconcreteadvice,letitbethis.

Thesinglebiggestproblemwithmostlettersisthattheyarefilledwithabstractgeneralitiesandinfinitives.Ifwedon'tknowyouoryourinstitution,wecan'tjudgewhatanyofthesestatementsmeanrelativetoourstandards.Alwaysconsidertheillustrativeanecdote:

Duetodeadlinepressure,Iaskedhimtogrowapumpkininjustonemonth.Asyouknowittakesover100daystogrowapumpkin,butovertheweekendhedevisedanewmethodtoacceleratetheirgrowth.OnMondaymorningIarrivedtofindnotjustapumpkinbutasteaming,flavorfulpie.

Anecdoteaboutactsofrawcodingareonlysohelpfulinunderstandingresearchpotential,butthey'rebetterthannothing(seethesectiononCorporateLetters,below).Anextrabookorpapertheyread,anddemonstratedunderstandingof(again,beconcreteaboutwhyyoubelievethis),goesalongway.

TriangulationandCredibility

Whenwereadaletterwe'resupposedlyevaluatingthestudent,butwe'reactuallyevaluatingtheletter-writertoo.WhatIcareaboutisnotonlywhatyouthink,butalsowhatIthinkofwhatyouthink.IfIdon'tknowyou,Ineedtocalibrateyou.

Ofcourse,sometimesinformationcanhurt.Ifyoupraiseresearchthatisnoharderthanwhatweassignourfirst-yearundergraduatestudents,thattellsusalotaboutyourprogram,butnotalotpositive.Isawpreciselysuchaletterbackinabout2022;tothisday,Icannamethecollege(andthestudent...).Untilthatprogrambecomesawholelotstronger,Iwouldn'twanttoadmitanyonefromit.

Ifyou'vebeenholdingbackpraise,tellus:Ifyouhaven'twrittenaletterthisstrongsince1998,andyou'vewrittentwodozenlettersinthattime,ithelpsforustoknowthat.Ofcourse,behonest.Ifwetakeyouatyourwordandyourstudentprovestobesignificantlyweakerthanyourletter,wewon'ttrustyourfuturerecommendations.

Italsohelpstoknowyourtrackrecord.Especiallyifyouareaprofessoratalesser-knownuniversity,telluswhereyourpastgraduateshavegone.Evenbetter,telluswheretheyarenow(maybethelackofname-recognitionforyourschoolmeansthestudentsdidn'tgotowell-knownplacesinitially,butiftheydidwellandarenowplacedingoodpositions,that'sgoodtoknow).Remembertocomparethisstudenttothatpopulation.

Finally,tellusalittleaboutyourbackground.Abriefparaofbio-sketchneverhurts.Ifyoupublishpapers,telluswhere.Butkeepitshort:theletterisaboutthestudent,notyou!

Ultimately,remembertwothings:

?Yourmostvaluableresourceisyourcredibility.Ifyouareacredibleletter-writer,wewilltakeyouatyourwordand,ifonedayyoutellusabout

astellarstudent,wewilldoeverythingwecantomakeroomforher.But

credibilityisone-way:hardtoacquire,easytolose.

?Youcan'tgetastudentin,butyoucanmakeastudentnotgetin.Thatis,thereisonlysomuchyoucansaytogetastudentadmitted,butifwecometodistrustyourletter,yournextstudentisgoingtohaveamuchhardertimegettingin.For“you”,substituteyourinstitutionalso.

ReportingonResearch

Atahighly-competitiveuniversitylikeBrown,wewanttoknowthestudent'sresearchpotential.Thebestassessmentofthisiswhattheyhavealreadydone.Ifyouaretheirresearchadvisor,youhaveaspecialobligationtothem(andtous)inyourletter:

?describetheirworkinyourownwords

?telluswhatthestudent'scontributionwas

?telluswhetheritsucceededorfailed

?ifit'songoing,telluswhyyouthinkitwillsucceed

Werarelyexpecttheideastohaveoriginatedfromthestudent,butwewouldliketoseesignsthattheytookownershipoftheproject,improveditinsomeway,refinedtheidea,andsoon.Finally:

?putanypublicationsincontext

Studentsdon'talwaysknowhowtodothis.Ifyoupublishedapaperonthework,tellusaboutthequalityofthevenue.Inparticular,studentsarepoorattellingdifferentkindsofpublicationsapart(techreportfromconferenceposterfromresearchpaper)andmayeventrytohidethedistinction(I'veseenthishappen).Helpusunderstandwhattheyreallyaccomplished.

Ifyourunasummerresearchcenter,youmaygetbombardedwithletterrequestsfromeachofyourstudents.Ihaveseensuchpeoplewriteperfunctoryone-paragraphletters.Thesehurtstudents,andareultimatelyunethical.Someonegaveyoumoneytorunthatcenter;whenyouaskedforit,youtookonanobligation.Fulfillit,orelsegetoutoftheway.Thereareplentyofotherswhowillgladlyputthatmoneytobetteruse.

ReportingonCourses

Naturally,yourmostsignificantcontactwiththestudentislikelytobeincourses.Yetwhatcouldbearichsourceofdescriptionisoftenthepoorest:MorHarchol-BalterreportsthatatCMU,theycallacertainclassofthese“DWIC”letters(“didwellinclass”),whichareeffectivelyuseless.

Giveuscontext.Whattextbookdidyouuse?Howmuchofitdidyoucover?Didthestudenttakeitearlierthanusual?

Don'tjustreportthegrade;putitinperspective.Howmanystudentsgotthatgradeorbetter?Ifyourtranscriptisn'tnuanced(e.g.,atBrownwegiveonlylettergradeswithno+/-decorations),fillitin.Didtheydoanexceptionaljobatsomething?(Telluswhattheydid!)Weretheybiasedtowardssomeaspectofyourclass?(Forinstance,inmyprogramminglanguagescourse,sometakemuchbettertothetheoreticalaspects,whileotherspreferthesystemswork.Thetranscriptwon'trevealthis,butit'sextremelyvaluableinformationforaprofessortryingtodecidewhetherornottorecruitastudent.)

ReportingonPersonality

Thisistricky,butitcanhelpapotentialadvisorassesshowgoodafitthestudentwillbe.Someadvisorsworkbestwithquiet,shystudents,otherswithboisterousones.Beashonestasnecessary.Forinstance,I'vehadthepleasureofworkingwithnumerousexceptionalstudents,butafewhavehadmorepeculiarpersonalitiesthanthenorm.Insuchcases,Iwritea“careandfeeding”section(thisgoesbacktothebitaboutcredibility).Ihaveneveryetknownthistobeheldagainstthestudent.

CorporateLetters

Animportantspecialcaseisthecorporateletter:whenyou,theletter-writer,workinindustryandhavenoacademicaffiliation.Manycorporateletters(likemanyacademicletters,butmoreso)tendtobevapid,clearlywritteninadifferentcultureandforadifferentaudience.Unlesstheyactuallydidacademicresearchwithyou,herearesomesuggestionsforimprovingthem.

Acommonmistakeistofocusonteamwork.Thisisimportanteveninacademia,butoftenthisistheprimaryfocusoftheletter,whichmakesitlessvaluable.Ofcoursewecareaboutit,butit'ssecondarytotheirtechnicalskills.

?Tellusiftheylearnedsomethingparticularlyquickly,masteredacomplextechnology,orsolvedaproblemotherswerestuckon.Giveusaparagraphofdetails.

?Ifyouhaveaconcretereasontoevaluateresearchpotential,dosoconcretely.

Otherwise,don'tbother.

?Giveusabriefbio-sketch,includingeducationalqualifications.

?Puttheapplicantincontext,andtellusthecontext.It'sfinetorelateittoyourownstudentdays,ortoyourexperiencehiringstudents.E.g.:

ComparedtothestudentsIstudiedwithatCucumberandMelonUniversity,andtheonesInowrecruitfromthere,Iwouldputhiminthetop10%.

Don'tPersonalize(or,HowtoPersonalize)

Don'twasteyourtimepersonalizingtheletterforeachschool,unlessyoureallypersonalizeit.I'mnotimpressedbyyourmail-mergeprogram.Absolutelynobodycaresthatyoudon'tlistBrown'spostaladdressatthetopoftheletter.Spendthatextraminuteorfivemakingtheletterbetter.Besides,invariably,youwillmessup:everyyearwegetahandfuloflettersstuffedinthewrongenvelope.(Just

becausethey'regoodenoughforHarvarddoesn'tmeanthey'regoodenoughforus!

[IhopeGregMorrisettdoesn'treadthis.])

Ofcourse,youcouldreallypersonalizealetterbywritingaparagraphspecifictoaninstitution.Butonlydothisifyoureallyhavesomethingtosay.Forinstance,Isometimeswrite,

Heyfolks—EvaEchidnaismorededicatedthanJonasJackarooandeverybitassmartasWalterWallaby,bothofwhomarepaststudentsofminewhoappeartobethrivinginyourprogram.

YoucoulddothiswithLaTeXorWordmacrotrickery,butyouknowwhatIdo?Ijustwritetheparagraphbyhand.It'squicker,easier,andevenhasthefeelofauthenticity,becauseeveryoneknowsprofessorscan'taffordmachinesthatsimulatehand-writing:onlyalumniofficeshavethatkindofmoneyoncampus.

Asimpler,butalsoimportant,levelofpersonalizationistotakeintoaccountthequalityofthetargetinstitution.Sometimes,studentsapplytoschoolswellbeyondtheirquality,andyoumaynotbeabletotalkthemoutofit(nor,perhaps,shouldyou;they'rejustexercisingtheirfreedom).Youmayconsiderhavingslightlydifferentletters,oneforeachlevelofinstitution.Acheapwaytoachievethesameeffectistosimplymarkdifferentboxesinthetablesyou'reaskedtofillin(e.g.,marktheminahigherpercentileforschoolswhereyouthinktheybelong,andalowerpercentileforplaceswheretheywillbeovermatched).

Whilewe'reatit,here'sagreatinstanceofcustomizationgonewrong(theellipsesaremine,therestisliteraltext):

Itismypleasuretorecommend...beadmittedtothePhDinComputerScienceprogramatBrownUniversity.IamanassociateprofessorintheDepartmentofComputerScience,theUniversityof...,whereIhavetaughtfor[THISMANY]years.

Didn'tevenproof-readit,eh?

AskYourStudentforHelp

Ahyes!Here'swhereItellyoutoaskthestudenttowriteadraftoftheirownletter.Not.

AskingstudentstowriteevenadraftoftheirownletterisoneoftheshabbiestpracticesIcanimagine.Yes,Iknow,manyotherwiserespectablepeopledoit(I'veevenhadmorethanoneletter-writerofmine—peopleIrespectprofoundly—askmeto).I'veheardargumentsabouthowithelpsastudentdemonstrateprofessionalism,maturity,andsoon.Thisisn'ttheplacetoexplainwhyI'mcompletelyunswayed.

SowhatdoImean?

Itellmystudentstogivemealistofeverythingaboutthemthattheythinkisrelevant.Iexplicitlytellthemtobrag(somestudentsareshyandmaynotgivethemselvesenoughcreditotherwise):filteringtheirinputismyjob,nottheirs,andIsayso.SometimesIdogetitemsthatareover-the-top,butnoharmdone.MuchmoreoftenastudentwillremindmeofsomethingtheydidthatIhadforgotten,butwaswellworthremembering.

Inparticular,formytopresearchstudentswhoarecurrentlyworkingwithme,Ihavenoshortageofinformation.Butfortheothers,oronesIhaven'tworkedwithinawhile,thishelpsimmensely.Someitemsuddenlybringsthemaliveafterseveralyears,helpingmereconstructforgottendetailsandprovideanillustrationortwo.

TellUsAboutRelevantThingsThatDidn'tHappen

Sometimesthenegativespacesalsomatter:astatementlike

Despitemybesteffortstopersuadehertoworkwithme,EvadecidedtospendhersecondsummerworkingfortheRockyRaccoonCorporation,alocalmakerofsurveillanceequipment.BecauseofthisIcannotsaymuchaboutherresearchskills,butI'mtoldshedidgoodworkthere.Moreover,herexperienceinindustryconvincedhershewouldratherbeingraduateschool.

can,insomecontexts,tellthereaderalot.

HelpYourStudentsFormaStrategy

It'sveryfrustratingtogetthreeessentiallyidenticalletters.Ifyouaretheadvisor(orevensimplysomeonewhothinksthestudentdeservestodowell),takealittletimetohelpstudentsplanouttheirapplicationstrategy.Askthemwhotheirotherwritersare,helpthemfindwriterswhocanhighlightalltheirstrengths,andidentifypointlessoverlap.Summarizeanythingyouthinkweshouldknowabout:e.g.,

IknowthatEvadidasuperbprojectwithProfDolfenfuss—Iwasblownawaybythecreativityoftheirworkonintrusiondetectionforraccoonsthatraidpumpkinpatches.She'stoldmeshehasaskedDr.D.foraletter,soItrusthewillelaborate.

JustSayNo

Don'twritealetterbecauseyou'refeelingbadlyforastudent.Wecantellfromyourletter,anditwon'thelpthestudentonebit.Justsayno.Ifyoureallycare

forthestudent,spendthattimeinsteadhelpinghimfindletter-writerswhocanbettergetacrosshistalents.Heck,maybeheshouldn'tbeapplyingtograduateschoolatall,atleastnotrightnow.Afewminutesofyourtimemaysavehimyearsofhis.

PracticetheFundamentals

Mailthedarnedthinginontime!Wedon'tbegintoreadapplicationsuntiltheyare“sufficientlycomplete”tobeworththetime.Whileyou'recraftingyourprosefortheParisReview(andfidgetingwiththedetailsofyourmailmergeprogram),yourstudent'sfolderisbecomingclosefriendswiththehistoric,200+-year-old,pre-RevolutionaryWardustinthecornerofsomeofficebuildingatBrown.

YourEssay/PersonalStatement/StatementofPurpose你的文書

1.TheBasics基本信息:

TOEFL:_______

IELTS:_______

GRE:_______

GMAT:_______

GPA(yourGPA/FullGPA):_______/_______

Rank(yourrank/totalnumberofstudentsinyourmajororclass):_______/_______

2.You了解你自己

lWhatthingsinyourlifeareyoumostproudof?

在你的生活中，什么事讓你最驕傲？

lWhatwouldyourbestfriendsayareyourverybestqualities?

在你的好伴侶眼里，你最好的品質(zhì)是什么？

lWhatisthebiggestchallengeyouhavefacedandhowdidyouovercomeit?

你遭受的最大挑戰(zhàn)是什么，你是如何完成它的？

3.Academicactivities學(xué)術(shù)活動(dòng)

lWhydidyouchooseyourmajor?

你為什么挑選你現(xiàn)在的專業(yè)？

lHaveyougonebeyondwhatisrequiredofyoubythecurriculumatanytime?Pleasedescribe.

你有沒(méi)有做出過(guò)超出課程要求的努力？請(qǐng)描述。

lWhatwerethehighpointsofyourundergraduatestudy?

你的本科學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程中取得過(guò)什么成就讓你尤為自豪？

lWhatareasofyourmajorparticularlymotivateyou?

你所學(xué)（選）專業(yè)的哪方面讓你特殊有愛(ài)好？

lWhatdoyouseeas