cheetarah1980 wrote:
fxsunny wrote:
Thanks Cheetahrah, very helpful.
On a related note, as I try to id potential recommenders for my application, I could use some help about what type of questions recommenders are typically asked...
Specifically:
- Are they asked to type out a recommendation letter that addresses the overarching 'why do you recommend this candidate' question, or are they asked to fill out an online questionnaire with a multitude of questions ranging from positives, negatives, etc. Are there some templates that schools have used in the past years?
- Are all of my recommenders contacted, or does adcom pick and choose which one to reach out to?
- From a recommenders' perspective, is the process of providing a recommendation purely web-based, or is this a telephonic conversation with someone in adcom?
- Finally, I noticed that some online applications that accept recommendations online through the web, didn't specify how many recommendations they're looking for. Is there a norm?
Your assistance is appreciated,
Regards!
1) It depends on what school you apply to. Most schools have their own recommendation forms with evaluation charts that they want recommenders to fill out. Your recommenders cannot write one letter for you to send to all schools.
2) The initial recommendation is submitted via the online application system. If the admissions committee has a question they will call your recommender. However, this is VERY rare. Once your recommendation is submitted 99.999% of the time the recommender's job is done.
3) Go back and read carefully. Under applications requirements EVERY school says how many recommendations they require and who they should be from (i.e. supervisor, professional, peer, etc.).
Some schools, like Owen, post a copy of the recommenders form on their website. The other schools to which I applied did not. However, I was able to call adCom at the other schools and find out if their recommendation forms followed a similar format. (I did this because my recommenders wanted to know whether they'd have to write a letter, free-form, or fill out a ratings form.)
Also, I've noticed that some of the GMAT club pages for the schools give a lot of information including the questions for the recommenders as well. Once I understood that all of my schools did a rating matrix, I asked my recommenders if they were comfortable with that format, and took it from there.
Also, in my case I chose not to ask my manager for a recommendation because there are too many organizational changes taking place at my job. So in my optional essay for the schools that strongly suggested a recommendation from your current manager/supervisor, I explained why I chose to request one from my team leader and manager's peer rather than my manager. That's my $0.02 of things you might have to consider. Hope this helps!
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20 Feb 2012, 02:10
