Study in USA

(Updated) Letters of Recommendation that get Graduate School Admission

Have your ever wondered what should be the contents of Reference letters?

In one of the previous articles Letters of Recommendation: Dos and Don’ts, I gave an overview on how to write reference letters for U.S. university graduate school admission.

In this article I’m going into the details on what the contents of reference letters should be. Graduate school admission committees are looking for a specific set of information when screening students.

There are two common ways in writing reference letters. Some universities have their own letter of recommendation form that applicants must use, while other universities accepts free form letters written in A4 size papers.

In the previous article about letters of recommendation, I have placed a link to samples of well-written reference letters. If you look deeper into its contents, you will understand the different areas that must be projected to highlight student’s capabilities.

1) Research Potential

2) Ranking of Student among Peers

3) Analytical Skills

4) Communication Skills – Oral and Written

5) Teamwork – Get along well working with others

6) Potential for Higher Education

7) Creativity/Imagination

8) Intellectual Achievement

9) Emotional Maturity

10) Leadership Skills

11) Volunteer Activities

Some of the professors who are giving students reference letters for U.S. university admission might not be aware of what to write about the students or they might fail to highlight a few important areas.

So now you can use the above 11 areas as reference and ask your professors to write about you covering the above areas. Sample reference letters may be given by your professor, lecturer, managers at work, etc.

Some students have asked me the following questions:

Do the degree and professional recognition of the person who provide you reference letters for graduate school admission matter?

Is there a difference in terms of impact between reference letters given by academics with PhDs versus those with just bachelor’s degrees?

Keep checking the upcoming articles, I will talk about that in next posts.

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Of course, you may also talk about the Happy Schools Blog to your friends or relatives who are looking for details about U.S. universities.

Coming Soon: Sample original reference letters used by students for Master’s admission.

You might be also looking for information about Statements of Purpose (SOP) and tips on how to write high impact SOP.

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41 Comments

  1. Hello,
    Could you please let me know the procedure of getting a recommendation letter from a foreign university?

  2. i need to write a reference letter for my son who is applying for Grad school in NY in accounting can you help me with a sample letter?

    thanks

  3. hi

    I'd like to have sample recommendation for math on masters admission in the USA .please send me more related articles on recommendation letters

  4. i need more information on writing recommendation letters onmasters admission in the USA.pls notify me about more related articles on recommendation letters.

  5. im pursuing my B.Tech pharmaceutical technology, final year. im interested in taking up MS pharmacology rather than PHD. ive heard that universities consider international students who aim for phd. is it true ? i need assistance in writing my SOP catering to my department requirements and the best format for letter for recommendations. pl help me out in this regard .

  6. CAN ANYONE PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH SAMPELS OF LOR nd SOP…

    I M IMMIGRATING TO US WITHIN VRY VRY SHORT TIME….

    SO I NEED THEM URGENTLY….I M GOIN TO START WITH MY GRADUTION DER IN MEDICINE FIELD…

    PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I WUD B VRY THANKFUL TO U

  7. Hi,

    I have completed my B.com and wanna do my masters in USA . can u please help me out in preparing LOR , i need 2 LOR from my college professers. Most of the sample recommendation letter that i found is from an engineering graduate and have lots of skills being penned, hence have left me confused. kindly help me out . looking forward for your reply …

  8. Hi,

    I am in the process of applying for masters in a university in the United states and I urgently need to submit a letter of recommendation, can you help me with a sample. Also, does the level of degree of the writer matters; M.Sc lecture , PH.D lecturer or a Professor ? Is it appropriate for a letter of recommendation be written by my Boss in the office. I would appreciate a swift response. Regards.

  9. i need help to write 3 recommendation letter for admission in uk for masters in aerospace engineering please help me i am getting very much confuse.

  10. i want a sample recommandation letter and i also want to know that from where it has to getso please giv me detail about state of purpose and recommandation letter.

  11. i already study communications and electronic engineering and also i have had 2 years experince in my field with managments field also

    so i need to know how can i wright my recommendations laetter

    please could u inform me or give me some example about that

  12. what do they mean when they say that lor has to be submitted online. my company officer can only make a paper-based lor with his pen-signature. what should i do for online submission.? should i just get a copy of his unsigned lor and scan the copy then attaching a signature image.?
    or should just make a copy of lor signed by him and send a scanned copy of the same.

  13. hi i need assistance in writing 3 recommendation letters to get admission in master in applied psychology in UK. one from HOD of psychology and two letter from the faculty professors please need it urgently to get admission this i will be helpful from your side.i have done graduation in psychology and completed this year 2009.

  14. Hello!

    I've got PhD scholarship and also I'm tried to get supervisor for my PhD proposal but this time I need to get admission from anyone of the Germany universities. Can anyone provide me sample letter regarding admission?

  15. hi this is arpit…i m planning for ms in computer science in usa…so plz let me know smthing abot sops n lors

  16. Hi !

    Thank you for this blog, its very usefull. I need some reference letters samples relating to ms/phd in usa for veterinary or biological sciences. Please send me something to this email. Its really urgent. Thank you

  17. Hello Dear ,I m applying for MS in RURAL SOCIOLOGY in US .I have no idea about SOP.can u plz help me in that.plz send me few SOP related to this course.i will wait for ur e mail.

    Regards

    sunil

  18. sir i dont have interesting sops & Recomendation letters to send to colleges in us for pharmacy.so pls send me to this mail and help me as fast u can,frankly speaking my application process is waiting to sunmission for the sake of good SOP

    1. Hey,I dont have interesting sops & Recomendation letters to send to colleges in us for pharmacy.so pls send me to this mail and help me as fast u can,frankly speaking my application process is waiting to sunmission for the sake of good SOP

  19. Can any one provide me with sample SOP please????????
    I wanna pursue my MS in IE (industrial engg.)
    please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  20. plz send me a sample letter of recommendation n wat has to be mentioned in it fr pursuing M.S in computer science/ information technology… i’ve completed my B.Tech in I.T frm Anna university…But i’ve gt an aggregate of abt 62%.. how can i make the letter of recommendation mre appealing to the univ?

  21. Hello Sir,

    I'm in last semester of Biomedical Engineering in Iran,I have only one problem and it is that i have an average score of 65.4,i have ielts with the score of 6.5 and Startdeutsch(german language) with the score of 93%,,and my university project was realy strong projct that can help me to get acceptance from one university,and i have 2 recommendation letters from mine professors.what can I do about my average score of university?

  22. this blog is really nice and informative. could you please mail me some lor samples relating to ms/phd in usa. my stream is biotechnology and i wish to persue ms/phd in related field. i need those urgently and would be highly obliged for the same. thank you

  23. dear sir, im a third year computer engineering student studying under pune univ. i appeared for mock GRE and scored nearly 1400 so im confident of earning a stellar score in GRE which im planning to appear for during mid october this year. but the problem is that i have a horrible undergrad academic record standing with a pathetic 51 percent. i have gone thru hundreds of blogs and websites which provide guidance for graduate school admissions, nearly all aspirants have much better GPAs and i am beginning to get the low GPA blues. can you please advice me on my situation. should i drop this GRE thing and strive for something much more attainable. i can manage some strong reco letters and a neat sop, but the minimum requirements of most of the universities are higher than what i have to offer. are there some ways to mitigate the ill effects of awful undergrad transcripts? please help me out of this..

  24. nice updates bro…….
    i wud really appreciate if u write some more about evryday life in US ……u can also write watever’s known 2 u about life in different parts of US …..
    quite eager 2 know this…..

    regards,
    R.J.

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