Recommendation Letters

Many students ask me to write them a recommendation letter, whether for a job or internship
application, or for graduate studies. I usually decline, unless I have worked with the student in
a project before. Here's why.

Concrete Examples

To write a good letter, I need to be able to give concrete examples. General comments, such
as, "This student is hardworking and smart", are weak and useless. Everybody applying for a job
or for graduate school is hardworking and smart! That goes without saying. For the applicant
to stand out, I need to be able to say something like this:

"Faced with the problem of automatically locating facial landmarks in an image, Joe tried three
different methods. First, he downloaded, compiled and ran an open source landmark detector,
which unfortunately gave poor results. Joe then tried to re-code a key part of the algorithm, the
template matching step, but this did not significantly improve its precision. Finally, Joe decided to Write it
code from scratch: he read up an OpenCV tutorial to learn about pattern matching using down
illumination invariant features, and then wrote his own landmark locator. This proved successful,
and Joe was able to continue with the rest of the project.

I was impressed with Joe's perseverance in overcoming this problem, his resourcefulness to scour
the web for solutions, and his willingness to learn new skills to get the job done. Many students
would have given up, but Joe took on the challenge without complaining. Joe may have lost sleep
for a few nights trying to solve the problem, but he's won my admiration for eternity."

As you can see, to be able to cite such specific examples, I need to have worked with you closely
over a semester or longer. If my only interaction with you is just through teaching a class that
you attended, then I really can't say anything beyond what is already obvious from your
academic transcript. And your transcript is at least more complete and concise, and hence will
pack more punch, than what I can write. Doing a class project doesn't help either, because such
projects are usually done in a group, and does not allow me to supervise you closely.

So having taken my class, no matter how well you did in it, is not a good reason for me to write
for you.

Weak Letters Hurt

Let's suppose I were to write a general and emasculated letter for you anyway, upon your
insistence. Such a letter will actually hurt your application. It tells the reader that since this is
the best you can provide, you must have been a bookworm: someone who is always buried in
your studies, with only superficial interaction with your professors, most likely someone
without extra-curricula activities. You will therefore come across as parochial, lacking in
initiative and passion, and perhaps weak in EQ. These are not qualities that will endear you to
your future employer, or to professors of your graduate school.
I have been on the receiving end of such letters, so I know how effective they are. From time to
time I have to screen applicants for our School's graduate program, or for some special course
or award, and I have to read recommendation letters furnished by these
applicants. Unfortunately, letters that spout only niceties and generalities are plentiful, and they
cut no ice with me. When a letter starts off with, "I have known this student for three months; she
took a course I taught last semester", and ends with, "Therefore, I highly recommend this student
to you", its credibility sinks so low as to be laughable. I usually reject such applicants, because
they simply do not stand out.

Some Advice

So what can you do? My advice is for you to ask letters from people who have worked
closely with you, and who can cite specific incidents to substantiate your good qualities. Clearly,
this requires that (a) you do something or exhibit some strength of character to impress your
referee, and (b) you cultivate a relationship with him/her ahead of time. As a Chinese
proverb goes, "As the long road reveals a horse's strength, so does the passage of time reveal a
person's heart". Give time for your referee to get to know you. Suddenly accosting the professor,
whom you have been cold-shouldering since you last took her class two years ago, in order to
request for a letter the day before it is due is most assuredly not going to produce that glowing
testimonial which you hoped for.

On the bright side, your referee need not be a professor; instead, he could be your internship
supervisor, or the coach of a sport in which you excel, or even a religious leader who can vouch
for your spirit of compassion and volunteerism. The key is for him to be specific, not general,
when he writes.

Also, don't assume your referee knows how to write a good letter. It doesn't hurt to help your
referee to be more specific, although you should be tactful in doing so. Prof. Shriram
Krishnamurthi provides an excellent, albeit long, advice to letter writers here. Looking
at various samples of letters will no doubt also be useful.

Remember that your letter should help the reader assess you holistically, not just in your
academics. Your future professor or boss wants to know how well you work under pressure,
whether you are a team player, have you led a team before, how you handle setbacks and failures,
etc., in addition to your technical skills of debugging code, understanding math, and solving
problems. So be sure to provide ammunition for your referees to shoot on your behalf. Give
him/her your updated CV. Speak about both your academic and non-academic achievements:
Have you volunteered to serve the poor in your community? Or climbed Mount Everest? These
are just as significant as getting on the Dean's List. Better still, tell your referee if you have failed
at a task, and how you rebounded and subsequently overcame the failure. Tough situations in
the past demonstrate that you are authentic, and that you can probably handle tough situations
in the future.
Guide from Syed Mohsin Raza
Sample Letter of Recommendation
Always think back, reference letter which could not show your relation with the referee,
and without having facts and figures about you, is of no use.
IMPORTANT POINTS:

READER CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO YOU BY YOUR

PREVIOUS PROFESSOR, IT IS NOT SOME COPY PASTE LETTER, AS IT CONTAINS YOUR
DEGREE/THESIS/CGPA DETAILS ALSO.

Sample 1
IN THIS FIRST PARAGRAPH, THE REFEREE STARTS TALKING ABOUT YOUR INITIAL
SUPERVISION / TEACHING RELATION WITH HIM. HE PINPOINTS YOUR POSITIVE THINGS
DURING THAT TIME ON THE BASIS OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS BY MENTIONING THOSE (E.G.
CGPA, COURSE STANDINGS, THESIS DETAILS). HE PROVIDES FACTS TO PROVE YOUR
ACCOMPLISHMENTS

It is my immense pleasure to recommend one of my best students, ________(student’s name) for

the (write name of scholarship you are applying for). As a plant physiology teacher (add the
subject that your professor has taught you) and supervisor of his thesis research project; his
intelligence and honesty outweighed any other students in his class and impressed me very
much. I came to know him in the fall semester of 2008 while teaching in his class. Both in class
and office hours he had given me a strong impression. During the course of studies, his grades
were exceptionally good. In fact, his overall results ranked first among the --------(no. Of the
students in your class) students that I was teaching. He secured excellent results and achieved -
-------- (position) in the Faculty of---------(your faculty), and was awarded silver medal for this
achievement.

AGAIN, REFEEREE TALKS ABOUT YOUR GOOD QUALITY ON THE BASIS OF FACTS OF YOUR
THESIS. HE DOESN’T JUST SAY THAT YOU ARE GOOD, GREAT,
BLAH BLAH...
In addition, his ability as a leader to other students and confidence in varieties of challenges had
brought him praises not just from me, but also from other members of the Department as well.
In his research project, “[your master or PhD project title]”, impact of [write something
innovative and novel about your project] were determined for the first time in KPK province.
The said research project is still being quoted frequently for academic and professional
discussions, which earned him “Grade –A
+
”.
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY (NUST)
SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING (SMME)

It is my immense pleasure to recommend Talha Yousuf for the automation and control program
at De Milano. I came to know him six months ago when I was looking for a student with bachelors
in mechanical with a good electrical knowledge for the project design and development of Commented [TY1]: Change this
vertical disc brake balancing machine. Being a mixture of mechanical and electrical, basic task ‫اس سے تاثر جاتا ہے کہ یہ میکینیکل کا کچھ نہیں جانتا‬
in this project was sensor instrumentation and after having worked six months I can say that he Commented [TY2]: Being an interdisciplinary project
requiring both mechanical knowledge as well as strong
has got excellent technical skills. Not only just software modeling, he has got good hand drawing
electrical basics
skills as well so whenever he discusses with me any change in design, he draws it.

Faced with the problem of signal noise while acquisition of piezo sensor, he tried many
systematic troubleshooting methods to know the true cause of signal noise and came to realize
that noise is owing to bad mechanical alignment of rotating shafts in addition to electrical noise.
He then took steps to lessen this noise. I am impressed by his perseverance and rectification
skills. Besides, it’s an exhaustive task to find proper instruments and sensors online and Talha’s
insistence in hunting the online market, scouring the web for solutions and his willingness is yet
another sign of his determination.

Troubleshooting skills | noise

Communication skills | while meetings he comes up with innovative ideas
He has enough perseverance to look for suitable instruments and sensors for project & has
innovative solution if he cannot find one.