Sample Graduate School Recommendation/Reference Letter

Recently, my former student asked me to write a recommendation letter for him for graduate school admission. The letter below is the letter I made for him. I just removed some confidential details of course, such as his real name.

What is the content of a graduate school recommendation/reference letter?

1. How long have you known the applicant?

Establish why you are a credible person or why you are the right person to recommend the applicant.

2. What is the applicant’s intellectual ability, skills, experiences, works, as well as characteristics, habits, and attitude?

Share an anecdote or proof that proves why the applicant has the said traits, attitude, etc. Avoid writing generic terms such as hardworking, reliable, etc.

3. Why are you confident that the applicant  can be successful in graduate school?

Write the reason why you are highly recommending the person. This can serve as your closing paragraph.

Sample Graduate School Recommendation/Reference Letter

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Exploring the Tricks and Bamboozlement of Language

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021234 or 0912567/ admin@languagestratagem.com

February 14, 2018

Dear Sir/Ma’am (last name):

It’s my great honor to write a recommendation letter for my exceptional student, Mr. France  Reyes. He was my student in literature at BST colleges for one semester. During that time, he was the president of our class. As the class president, I saw his leadership potential.  Years later, I was not surprised when I saw his name and picture in billboards in our province for making it to the top ten passers of the ECE board exam. His school (BST) is so proud of his achievement. As his teacher, I am also proud that he has been consistently dedicated to his chosen course. I knew he could go far. Last year, to my surprise, I met him again as a new co-worker in SMMU Colleges. Now, he is one of my colleagues who are dedicated to imparting the knowledge that he gained to students.

Mr. Reyes is very serious and dedicated to his work. He can manage his time well. As a matter of fact, he was never late in submitting any of my requirements in class when he was still my student. Moreover, he makes sure he takes responsibility for all the assigned tasks to him in our current job. Since he has a solid character, he has developed a good time management and work habit.

In terms of intellectual ability, his academic excellence which is evident in achieving a top exam result in the ECE board exam is one of his qualifying attributes to do graduate work in microelectronics.  More importantly, his persistence and honorable work (aside from his technical knowledge and intellectual accomplishments) are highly commendable.

With unwavering confidence in what Mr. Reyes can do in the future, specifically in his chosen field, I highly recommend him to your graduate program. He has an exceptional discipline so he will certainly become a blessing to any organization.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Frances Therese Quing
Language Professor
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