Recommendation Guidelines by School : The B-School Applications

We require two letters of recommendation and prefer that at least one come from a current employer. Select individuals with whom you have had considerable professional interaction, such as your supervisor or a major client. The title or status of those you select is not important. What does matter is how closely your letter writers have worked with you and whether they can attest to your value as an employee, your professional accomplishments, and your personal qualities and interpersonal skills in an organizational context. For this reason, we strongly discourage academic references. Letters of recommendation from co-workers, someone you have supervised, relatives, or personal and family friends are inappropriate and can be detrimental to the review of your application. Please do not submit more than two letters, and if you choose not to obtain a letter from your current supervisor, be certain to explain why.

The Confidential Statement of Qualifications (CSQ) form should be given to two people capable of commenting on your professional, leadership, and intellectual capabilities. The most useful evaluations are from people who are able to speak with certainty about your leadership, maturity, team orientation, analytical skills, and interpersonal skills. If you are currently employed we prefer that you choose people who know you well and who are in a position to judge your professional performance and leadership, such as a direct supervisor. If you are a college senior, submit one CSQ from a professor and one CSQ from a summer or former employer who knows you through a leadership role. Generally, unless you are a college senior, we do not find CSQs from professors to be helpful in our evaluations.

Ideally, one of your letters of recommendation, or Career Progress Surveys, should be written by your current supervisor or manager. The second letter of recommendation also should be from someone who can objectively evaluate your professional performance as well as managerial and leadership potential, such as a former supervisor, previous employer, client, etc. If you are unable to ask a current supervisor or manager for a letter of recommendation, please include a brief statement regarding your choice in the Additional Information section of Part 2 of the application.

Professional/Workplace
You must obtain at least one Letter of Reference from your current direct supervisor. If you are unable to provide a letter from your current direct supervisor, include a brief note of explanation in the Additional Information section of your application.

Your second Professional/Workplace Letter of Reference must come from someone in a position to evaluate your work - a current supervisor, a previous supervisor, a client, etc.

Peer/Team
For your peer reference, please choose an individual with whom you have worked on a team or project, in a position equal to your own. This person could come from any of your team experiences: charitable, extracurricular, professional, or other. The recommender cannot be a supervisor or subordinate.