Today is the due date for applications to become a Resident Advisor. Here’s the site for reference. Normally, because I work very closely with students, I am often asked to write letters of reference, as is required by the position. This semester, so far, I have been asked to write 8. I wrote 5.

When the position was first made available in Fall semester, as early as Thanksgiving, I began to receive requests for letters of recommendation. Thinking now, these students were students I knew very well – students who I have worked with, supervised, and even taught. This allowed me to give stellar recommendations to these students because I spent quality time with them and, seriously, have an intimate knowledge of their motivations and aspirations. Yes, it’s deep. So writing these letters has been easy to write.

In the last few days however, as we approached the deadline, I received requests for recommendation from students. I received two yesterday.

The day before the deadline.

Yes, I shook my head too.

You see, someone asked me if I have a template that I use. Drop the name in, change a few details, and voila. Instant letter of recommendation. No, it doesn’t quite work like that. I pride myself on writing letters of recommendation that speak to my experiences with the student, what I believe their strengths and areas of development are. Knowing the expectations of the positions having been one myself, helps guide my writing, so it takes a little time to write the letters. I would hope that students are aware of this when I’m writing recs. If I had a template, and if I didn’t care about the student, I could crank out a letter in no time. Would you want someone to write that kind of letter for you? I doubt it very much.

In short, here’s my to do list, if you’re going to request a letter of recommendation:

• Keep in touch with your letter writer WELL IN ADVANCE of requesting a letter. One student who requested a letter I knew in the sense that I knew him, said hi to him often and was friendly with him. I have known him since he first came to USF. But that’s pretty much about it. I don’t know about how he’s doing in class, what his motivations are, his backstory, or even how he would be an RA. The same went for the other two requesters. I feel bad saying no, but it would mean I would have to sit down with them, do a basic interview and do a write up for the letter.
• Do your due diligence. Another requester asked for a letter through a friend. Seriously? Do the hard work of writing the email or visiting the letter writer yourself. This is often hard, and we don’t like asking people for things, but this is when quality time pays off. This is almost always an automatic no thanks.
• Provide a thorough package. If you want someone you’ve worked with to highlight your abilities, provide them with prompts. Usually these prompts are mentioned in the requesting email or phone call. I usually recommend my requestors to provide me with a resume or a copy of their personal statement so I can mirror what they’re saying in their own words. Present this materials in a professional manner – a cover letter describing what you’re applying for, that you need a letter of recommendation, the address or ultimate destination that the letter needs to go to. Include your resume, CV, or what have you to make sure you are presenting your writer with material they can use for their letter. Don’t hesitate to highlight things like, “If you could speak about our project in which we trained monkeys to dance to the Black Eyed Peas, that would be wonderful.” Include postage for the envelope if needed.
• Say thank you. Send a thank you card to your writer, particularly if they went out of the way to write the letter for you. Also, keep your writer updated: “Thank you so much for your letter. I will be starting my doctorate in monkey dancing in the fall! I couldn’t have done it without you!”