A Better Way to Earn Great Letters of Recommendation
You can distinguish yourself as an applicant by learning how to get unique letters of recommendation!
Here's What You Need to Know About Letters of Recommendation
- Who should you ask for a letter?
- Who can write you a letter that actually makes a difference?
- How should you approach a potential recommender? What's the etiquette?
- How do you convince your recommender to take the time to write you a unique - not generic - letter?
- How do you write your own letter of recommendation? Is that ever OK?
- What does a strong letter of recommendation look like? Is there a template to follow?
- What are the common letter of recommendation mistakes and how do you avoid them?
Letters of Recommendation Can Be Your Competitive Edge
Here's one big application screw-up most applicants never consider: You will make yourself another forgettable applicant by submitting bland, generic letters of recommendation that don't illustrate who you are as a person and why you're an amazing applicant.
Letters of recommendation tell an admissions committee far more about who you are than the other “lifeless” indicators like your GPA and test-scores. With strong letters of recommendation, you can stand above your numbers and become a more desirable applicant.
What Most Applicants Do Wrong
- Winging it -- Getting letters before you know the best way to do it
- Asking for letters too late -- Professors needs lots of time to write a unique letter!
- Asking the wrong person -- Not everyone will write you a great letter
- Declining to write your own letter when given the opportunity
- Forgetting to be patient, courteous, and gracious with your recommenders
- Mismanaging your letters -- Sending them to the wrong place at the wrong time
My book "Great Letters of Recommendation" shows you
how to easily earn the best letters of recommendation
I wrote Great Letters of Recommendation because, frankly, most applicants I speak with don't know how to get the kind of letter of recommendation that will significantly improve your chances of acceptance.
What's in "Great Letters of Recommendation" and
How it Will Help You Get Impressive Letters
Learn Who to Ask, and When
Identifying the best people to ask and asking them at the right time is the key to strong letters of recommendation. This book covers this aspect of the process in detail.
Conversation Scripts - What to Say
Asking for a letter of recommendation can feel like an intimidating task when you don’t know how to bring up the topic. My conversation scripts help you to break the ice — just follow the script and I guarantee a painless conversation
Sample Letters of Recommendation
Here’s a big secret: Letter writers want you to tell them what to write, and sample letters will show you what works best. See what the strongest letters look like, and use them as your guide when you request your letters.
Email and Thank-You Templates
The etiquette around letters of recommendation is a big mystery to applicants, so I’ve provided several different templates to show you how it’s done. You’ll come across as the most prepared applicant when you use my templates to communicate with your recommenders.
Mistakes to Avoid
I interviewed dozens of college professors and they gave me the very worst, facepalm-inducing mistakes that caused them to write really bad letters of recommendation. This is one of my favorite features, partly because it’s so entertaining, and partly because it’s so helpful.
Timing - How to Send Your Letters On Time
Learn the best easy ways to get your letters submitted on time — without having to micromanage each one. I give you a variety of options that most applicants don’t know about.
Advice For PreMeds, Pre-Dents, Pre-MBAs, and Pre-Laws
The guidance in these pages is perfect for any graduate school applicant, but it’s particularly useful for PreMed, Pre-Dental, Pre-MBA, and Pre-Law applicants.
Why Letters of Rec are a Life-Long Skill
This book is a keeper! Eventually, you’ll be a working professional too, and you’ll need to write letters of recommendation for your employees, students, or clients. Keep this file around and you’ll use it for years and years to come.
How Great Letters of Recommendation Helps Real Applicants
First off, the D.O. in my first shadowing experience in November finally got back to me with a letter! He was actually really nice about it and offered to write a D.O. and M.D. letter! So thank you again for all your advice!
The second D.O. I shadowed has written me a letter as well. He took it well when I asked him for a letter, but I don’t know if that’s just his personality or the fact that I asked him ahead of time about wanting to “talk to him about a letter at some point.” Either way, thank you for your advice. At a minimum, I felt more confident asking him after talking to you.
Thank you so much for all your help Don!
Medical School Student
"Great Letters of Recommendation" Has:
- Sample Letters of Recommendation - See what a great letter looks like
- Detailed guide on what to say to recommenders, how to say it, and when
- Conversation scripts and email templates
- Common mistakes that you can easily avoid
- How to easily manage your letters so you can get them submitted on time
Digital Download
Purchase the Great Letters of Recommendation PDF for $9.95
Paperback Book + Digital Download
Purchase the Great Letters of Recommendation paperback book and the PDF for $19.95 + S&H
