The letter of recommendation for Graduate applicantsThe Importance of the Letter of Recommendation in the Admission Process:

American universities require data and information in order to process and evaluate a request for admission: the application forms, results of standardized tests, academic records, a personal statement and proof of financial solvency.

In addition to this information, letters of recommendation, generally three in number, must accompany the request for admission. These letters are of great importance for the candidate by virtue of their influence on the final evaluation and decision of university. The information furnished by a good letter of recommendation provides relevant support material and assists the institution in building a clear profile of the candidate in terms of previous activity, academic potential, personal attributes and future professional application of knowledge acquired through study in the USA. In some cases, a letter of recommendation may be the deciding factor in a candidate's admission.

Whom to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation:
Carefully choosing the people who will write about him or her in the candidate's best interest. It is preferable that the letters be written by professors although one of two may be from among those who employ or supervise the candidate. It is important the people chosen be knowledgeable about the candidate and also qualified to evaluate him or her performance and to provide personal specific and meaningful information about the candidate.

How to Write the Letter of Recommendation:
Initially, the letter of recommendation should identify its author in terms of academic background and professional experience. If the author has been associated with the American educational system, whether as a student, professor or researcher, this fact should be mentioned. The person who has had a university experience in the United States is better able to objectively evaluate a student's possibilities for success in that academic system.

Following this, the existing relationship between the author of the letter and the candidate (professor/student, research/assistant, employer/employee, etc.) and the duration and nature of the contact should be specified by the author of the letter. For Example:

This candidate was my student for two semesters in the theoretical laboratory course in the biological sciences, which had as its objective to introduce genetic and molecular biology to biology students. This course, one of the department's most rigorous, awards four credits. During our association, I had the opportunity to become well acquitted with the candidate and this permits me to make prediction with regard to his performance in the American academic system.

The letter should evaluate the candidate's level of ability and performance from the specific relation to other participants in the same group to the general in relation to the norms of a specific academic or professional area. For example:

The candidate impressed me as an extremely capable and above average student. Among the group of thirty students, I would not hesitate to consider him one of the two best in the class. The student's academic performance and participation during the course revealed an ability to think logically, intellectual curiosity, commitment and critical thinking. In addition to these characteristics, he consistently demonstrated a highly developed creative ability while he was my student.

A letter should also mention the candidate's personal traits - leadership ability, maturity or others if the author has had the opportunity to observe these. Finally it is important for the letter to emphasize the relevance of the foreign program of study to the professional possibilities in the candidate's country.
Note: to maintain the confidential aspect of the letter, it is preferable that the author of the letter and not the candidate send it directly to the university. Therefore, when you ask someone to write a letter of recommendation, it is strongly recommended that you provide them with stamped envelope addressed to the institution to which it should be sent.

Model of a Letter of Recommendation

Mr. __________ is a student in the master's program at the University of __________ at which I am Professor in Atomic /Molecular Physics. I am also chairman of the physics department, senior researcher in the National Physics Institute, and hold a doctorate from Western American University where I was a teaching assistant. Mr. __________ initiated his graduate program last year and intends to complete it at the end of this year. He has been my student in a course on low temperature physics and a seminar in solid state particles.

Presently, Mr. __________ is developing a thesis dealing with energy transfer in proton acquisition for hydrogen to helium transformation. Although this institution has limited (but adequate) equipment for such experimentation and measurement, he has used it with great resource and application. Indeed, these traits particularly distinguish his character, stuffy and emerging research accomplishes. These attributes have stimulates him to pursue a doctoral degree at an institution abroad with greater laboratory and library resources.

Mr. _________ is among the most exceptional four and five students whom I have had in my teaching career of twenty years. Not only has he used limited local resources with great skill, but also he has been significant in establishing better maintenance procedures and wider application for the equipment the university now has. Upon completion of his thesis, there is a possibility of its publication in the National Journal of Physics, the preliminary findings of which he delivered at the last meeting of the National Association of Physicists.

The Professional interests of Mr. __________ primarily concentrate in the theoretical aspects of physics with the objective of developing a teaching and research center. He has already proved a valuable research assistant for me and is a part-time instructor at another school locally. He promises to be a fine physicists (as a researcher and university professor) and possibly one of distinction should he have the opportunity to develop his skills in an institution with greater resources.

Article submitted by the 'United States - Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission' www.fulbrightsrilanka.com