Letters of Recommendation
Graduate schools, and many places of employment, will require letters of recommendation as a part of their application packet. In the past you may have obtained letters from people who know you or your family well. These were primarily character references and are very different from the ones you will need for graduate school or employment applications.
Generally you will be asked for three letters of recommendation from people who know you in an academic and/or work setting. You may want to get one letter from a supervisor at a job, if, and only if, you know that your performance at your job met or exceeded your supervisor’s expectations. An important point to remember is that you are not seeking “letters of recommendation.” Rather, you are seeking “strong letters of recommendation.” It is important to keep in mind that you may need different letters of recommendation (perhaps even from different people, or different letters from the same people) for various purposes. For example, a letter of recommendation for an application to graduate school will differ from a letter written for a job application, or for a scholarship.
From your faculty you will want to speak to those with whom you have taken several courses, in which you have distinguished yourself. If you are concerned that your teacher will not remember you from class (or may remember you for the wrong reasons!) then perhaps you should not ask that particular teacher for a letter.
On the other hand, if you have conducted research with, or under the supervision of a faculty member, then that faculty member will most likely remember you and be willing to write you a strong letter. You may also want to consider faculty who have worked with you in organizations or on committees. Have you been a member of Student Government, or perhaps active in the Psychology Coalition or Psi Chi? Did you work with Student Volunteer Services with some faculty members? These are also good sources of letters. These will go beyond being a character reference and speak to your reliability, your conscientiousness, and perhaps your leadership skills.
When should you start working on obtaining strong letters of recommendation? Now. Even if you are a freshman, it is not too early to start. By the time you are a senior, and considering whom to ask for letters you should have already: distinguished yourself in your classes (and hopefully with two or more classes from some of the faculty in your major), become involved in research with one or more of the faculty, been deeply involved in at least one volunteer activity, and become involved in at least one organization (being deeply involved in one organization is more valuable than superficially involved in several). The theme here is get involved. This is what your faculty will notice more than anything. A highly involved B student will be noticed more than a passive, uninvolved A student.
You want your references to have good things to say about you in this strong letter. When you ask someone if they “feel comfortable writing a strong letter” (yes, phrase it just like that) you might also want to ask them what you can provide them that might help them write the letter. Many faculty like a list of courses, outside activities, employment, and other information about you that they may not know. If you have worked to put yourself through college, put that on your information sheet.
Many positions (jobs, graduate schools, etc.) have forms that are to be filled out along with, or in addition to letters of recommendation. On the form there will be a place for you to indicate whether you waive, or do not waive your right to see the letters of recommendation. Although you may be intensely curious, and you may want to at some point look at your letters, most references feel freer to be completely honest and open when they know that the letter will be kept confidential (i.e., that you will not see it). The individuals on the committees (for jobs, schools, etc.) know this and are likely to more strongly consider letters that are written with the rights of the applicant waived.
Speaking of forms, please be sure to fill out as much of the form as you can for your letter writers, before giving the forms to them. It may seem that there are only a few lines to fill out, but remember that your references are probably writing letters for several other students as well. Each student may be applying to multiple positions. With only four students asking for five letters each, the reference will have twenty forms to fill out (not including the letter itself). You want to make this process as painless as possible for your letter writers.
Other small things that you can do to help your references include: providing a pre-addressed stamped envelope for each letter (you may want to ask your reference about this, some prefer to use letterhead envelopes), arranging the forms/envelopes in order of the due dates. Also, be sure to approach your potential letter writers far in advance. No one likes to be asked to do a favor…right now! Give your references as much advanced notice as possible (at least three weeks). It may seem to you that it doesn’t take long to write a letter, but to write a strong letter does take thought and time. And of course, it has to be fit into an already busy schedule.
One last comment. Good letters of recommendation will add a little to your application. A good letter, even a great letter, cannot make up for a weak application. But, a negative letter can destroy even a great application. This is why you really want to ask if your potential reference is comfortable writing a strong letter of recommendation.