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Thank you for trusting me to write you a letter recommendation!

Materials I Need

In order to help me write you the best letter recommendation possible, please send me the following at your earliest convenience:

  • Your CV
  • The Cover Letter you have written for whatever you are applying for (so I can better understand how you are trying to position yourself)
  • A note about what you would most like me to emphasize in your letter (for example, if are a Ph.D. candidate and you already have a letter writer who is speaking to your research, you might prefer I focus on, say, your teaching?)
  • A “Sliced Bread Memo”: a one or two-page document outlining all the reasons you are the greatest thing since sliced bread. This is not a time to be modest—please tell me ANYTHING you think might be helpful to have included in your letter. This is your opportunity to use me to brag about any and all of your accomplishments without having to look like you’re bragging. 🙂
  • Your graduate and undergraduate transcripts.
  • Any posts or information you have about the position/opportunity for which you are applying.
  • If you think you may be applying for other opportunities in the not-too-distant future, please also tell me about those so that I can write the letter in an appropriately generalized manner so it can be used for both opportunities with minimal updating.

If you expect to use the letter for more than one or two applications (e.g., for PhD applications), please enroll with a service like Interfolio’s Dossier Delivers service, and do so BEFORE you start submitting your application.

Dossier Delivers sends one letter request to me, then gives you an email address you submit to universities when it asks for your letter writer’s email. Then, automagically, when the school sends the letter request to that email address Interfolio will submit the letter I’ve uploaded to Interfolio. If you don’t do this, and apply to 10 schools, and so do the other 5+ people I’ve been asked to write letters for, I spend a half day roaming the internet trying to make sure I submit the right letter at 50 different websites. You can see why that’s not tenable.

This service does cost $60. If you don’t need this service for any other reason, and the $60 fee is difficult for you to cover, please let me know and we can work something out.

This service will not work for all schools — in my experience, it seems to work for about half of the schools to which students apply (or a little better). If Interfolio reports it can’t submit to a specific school, you can just put it in my email as usual.

Timeline

In order to ensure I have time to craft a strong letter, please provide these to me at least two weeks before the letter is due.

Finally, please make sure to email me a week before your letter is due to remind me of the due date, and the day after it was due to confirm I sent it!

Thanks!

Nick