Letters of Recommendation for 5+ Schools

I myself wrote recommendations for few and I know it is not about writing time but it is more about priortising this task as an important task and SLOT it in your busy schedule.

I do agree that after the first recommendation, the second one does not really takes more than 20 minutes, in fact you can complete in 10 minutes. But you need to slot that 20 minutes in your schedule as an important task ... that does not happen!! As a recommender, this is not the most important task in my hand, especially not when the guy is just an average joe.

I also agree that recommendation is just a validation check. If any school is taking recommendation seriously then something is seriously wrong. people engage only those people who will write goody goody things for him/her. Who the hell dare to get a true feedback??

There are too many variables in recommendation
story line
writing skills
depth and width
and finally, authenticity

Anyone can claim to be president of ABC company and give an excellent recommendation. Does the school has enough band width and skill to validate that? Generally people don't fake completely but I would say exeggaration is fairly common.

So, don't worry too much about recommendation. As long as you have a good GMAT score and fair interviews, these are just supporting material. If these supporting materials are extremely damaging then only your chance is affected. Or else those are useless.

Hey everyone,

First of all, thank you so much for the responses! Each person provided some excellent information that I can use moving forward.

@jko: Very interesting. For some reason, I figured that the recommendation questions would be different at each school, but I guess there's only so many types of questions you can ask someone. It's great to hear that most of the work is done with the first recommendation letter.

Thanks for the tips regarding using the person at my former university. I've been to one info session already and have a couple more lined up this month, and it definitely seems like there's an emphasis on previous supervisors if at all possible. For someone like myself who is applying to business school for entrepreneurship (i.e., a career transition), I would love to use the person at my previous university since she can speak about my startup company, but there probably hasn't been enough "formal" work together to qualify her for writing me a recommendation letter. So, I can take your advice and just use my best 2-3 previous supervisors who I know will write me kick ass letters and leave it at that.

@wouldbecrazy: So, if you wrote some of your letters then that means the schools you applied to allowed you to upload your "recommenders'" answers then, correct? For some reason, I thought I saw something on one business school's page that had the recommender log in to a separate web page to upload their answers. Hopefully that's not the case as I would prefer to handle everything myself.

I have some free time before this fall's application process gets started in June/July. I was thinking about working on some of the essay questions that I know will be part of the application (e.g., the lady at a UT info session told me one of their essays that will stay on their application) and reach out to my previous supervisors about my MBA intentions. So my question is can I go ahead and get started organizing recommendation questions by downloading this year's recommendation letter document from each school's page? Or does this document change every year like the essays and I need to wait until June/July?

Sorry, not mine. I wrote as a recommender for other prospective students.

Yes, as a recommender, for some school, you receive an email with links. You need to complete online. Some school use email. Some school require signed copy to be scanned and uploaded.

Hi Brentl23,

Many of the people who have responded to your question have had some good points. There are, however, a few points point I would like to make that will diverge from the consensus above.

1) Recommendations are an incredibly important component of your application process. Schools take them very seriously. Yes, people will go to individuals who think highly of them but there are 2 main differentiators. For one, not all who think well of someone, will write well of someone. They may not be specific or provide the adcoms with the details they are looking for. Secondly, the recommender may be ill prepared or provide commentary that contradicts the applicant's story. A well crafted recommendation is a must and I cannot stress that enough.

2) Recommendations are a part of your story. They allow you to convey parts of your personality or story that weren't addressed in the rest of your application. It contributes to a well thought out and rounded application. They should not be a regurgitation of the content in the rest of your application.

3) Recommendations can be time consuming for both you, to prepare your recommenders, and for them, to actually complete them. However, recommenders should be communicated the expectation that you expect a unique recommendation for each program. While they will invariably leverage some content, it should not take them a mere fraction of the time it took them to complete the first one. And while the questions may or may not be similar to other programs, the recommenders responses to them absolutely should not be. Each school is looking at the responses and evaluating them against their desired attributes and characteristics. Every component of your application should be tailored specifically towards the program you are applying to.

4) I would STRONGLY recommend against even offering to write the recommendation as a first draft for any of your recommenders. Not only does this cross an ethical line, it also inhibits your own story. The goal is to prepare them with a structured outline of the key strengths and development points you would like them to communicate and then leave them with the artistic license to fill in the gaps. Keep in mind, they may disregard your suggestions altogether but if you have selected the right recommender and they are fully prepped on your story and the schools you are applying to, they should be able to put a strong foot forward.

I understand your dilemma and it will come down to the strength of your relationships with those you ask to provide recommendations. They are busy people and the more you can do to make their lives easier, the easier it will be (and they'll appreciate it too!). Good luck with the process and if you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me!

Bhavik

Yeah that sounds about right. I just visited two California schools last week and they both said that you register your recommender online, he/she gets a link sent to them, and then he/she fills out the recommendation questions. The applicant doesn't see any of the questions, although I was told that typically business schools ask the same types of questions and I could google examples. That will be great because I want to provide my recommenders with as much information as possible regarding what to write about, so having a general idea of the questions should come in handy.

Interestingly enough, one person said that having the recommender write an actual recommendation letter (i.e., not just answering the question form) was a characteristic of the "good" recommendations. This sounds like more work for the recommender, though, too. Ha.





Excellent points all around. I guess that's why notfying my recommenders in May is a good thing. So, do you think having 3 recommenders for 6 schools (12 total recommendations, 4 per person) is a good strategy? I'm afraid that 4 might be too much, but I would prefer not to go above 3 recommenders.

Also, since the recommenders know absolutely nothing about these schools, it sounds like it would be helpful to provide them with information about each school so they can tailor their recommendations accordingly. I guess that's why it pays to write the essays first right?

Hi brentl23,

I think you are definitely ahead of the game getting to your recommenders in May so kudos on that!

Firstly, I think 3 recommenders would be ok, but 4 might be preferable. Now, this is assuming all 4 know you very well and can write great recommendations. The reason for this statement is primarily that the more recommendations you have a particular recommender doing, the more likely they are to become similar or leveraged. Also, 4 recommendations a person is quite a bit especially when you consider which rounds you are applying to. On one hand, if your 6 schools are across 2 or 3 rounds, then that's ok, but if they are all round 1, then you're putting a lot of pressure on them. Your recommender selection should be holistic of your relationship strength, their particular backgrounds, and your application strategy.

To your point about preparing them about the schools - you are absolutely correct. I would recommend a slightly different approach than to provide them with essays. For one, there is a good chance that by the time you need to engage your recommenders to actually write your letter, you will be in no position to pass off a polished, final version of your essays. This is true for any round of applications but doubly true for round 1 given when they release the topics. And this is entirely ok.

Secondly, they aren't a great indication of the school or its culture other than the places you have added specificity or spoken to a key attribute they look for. It only gives them insight into the components you have spoken to, which may not include the list of other things the school is looking for that your application you touch upon. Which is where your recommendations come in!

Therefore, when we work with our clients, we look to prep recommenders with a variety of information including a high level understanding of our strategy for the essays but not the essays themselves. All of these pieces give them a thorough understanding not only of the school and its specifics, but also our general application strategy. It has the added benefit that recommenders aren't tempted to leverage what you wrote in your essays themselves!

You're asking the right questions at the right time, so keep it up and good luck!

Bhavik

Thanks, Bhavik. After reading your reasoning, I decided that four recommenders (as you suggested) will probably be better than three recommenders since I am planning on applying to all six schools in round 1 (although I might end up applying to 1-2 schools in round 2). Thanks for the pointers there. I really appreciate everything you wrote!

Hey Brentl23,

Happy to help! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Especially as you begin plotting out your recommender strategy!

Bhavik

Hi Bhavik,

So I have a question for you - My recommender is happy to recommend me. But he has no time whatsoever, to actually write me a complete letter.
He sent me all the bullet points and asked me to prepare a letter out if it.

He says he'll forward me the link and I can upload the file myself. What is the harm in doing that ?

We strongly recommend against writing recommendation letters for our clients. You lose the authenticity and "voice" of the recommender. Not to mention, it's unethical. That said, a lot of applicants do find themselves in your position. In that regard, you're at least not as bad off because your recommender has given you bullet points to go off.

That said, it's not a great situation. At the end of the day, there's nothing stopping you from doing this. It doesn't stop hundred of other applicants. But it isn't ethical. And your recommender should understand this is a commitment to supporting you - this is part of the job, if you will. This isn't an easy process and they need to invest some time into it.

Bhavik