You’ve crafted amazing essays and short answers, crushed the GMAT, and now its time to
get some outside perspective for who else thinks you are awesome and why they think that.
That’s where letters of recommendation come in!
Who should I ask to write my letters of recommendation?You should pick people who can tell your story better than you can yourself! These
people should be your advocates, mentors, win the best boss award, etc. The worst
thing that can happen is you tell an amazing story in your application and then it
isn’t backed up by the people recommending you. Moral of the story is these folks
need to know you, know your work, and not be afraid to write how amazing you are.
How do I ask my potential recommenders to write mine?
The best way to ask is in person, whether that is over coffee, tea, or a meal. Explain
your motivations for applying to an MBA, what you hope to get out of the program,
and how they can help you get in. If you can’t meet in person, schedule a quick
phone call, and as a last resort go to email.
What if my recommenders worked with me on similar roles or projects?
If you are choosing recommenders who have worked with you in a similar capacity,
make sure they know you are asking each of them so they can coordinate and tell
different stories about you in their letters of recommendation. You don’t need two
letters of recommendation both talking about how you handled the same client
meeting that went off the rails. This can be done in a simple email that outlines who
you have asked, why, and were you think there may be some overlaps.
How do I help my recommenders prepare?
Whether this is your recommenders first time writing an MBA application or their
one millionth you need to provide them a few things:
▪ Deadlines for each of the programs you are applying to
▪ If you are applying to multiple schools map out the questions they are going to
ask and where there are similar questions across programs (Tip: A quick
overview, such as Berkeley Haas’s values, for each school can be really useful
and help your recommender quickly translate what they have written for one
MBA program to another with a similar or identical question)
▪ Suggested areas of focus, from the step above, if you have recommenders with
potential to overlap
What has been your experience? Share your comments/thoughts and happy to answer them