Information for Faculty
How to Write a Letter of Recommendation
For New Teaching Assistants and Others Unfamiliar with the Process
Writing letters of recommendation is a time-consuming and sometimes perplexing task. Career
Services has made this task easier by partnering with Interfolio, Inc., the premier web-based credentials file management system. Interfolio is successfully used by over 200 colleges and universities. Most of our peer institutions, including five Ivy schools, have established similar partnerships with Interfolio and have found that service has improved as a result. For a small fee users can store their letters with Interfolio, and have them mailed out whenever they apply for graduate school admission, employment or funding. Interfolio also provides free accounts for letter writers who may send letters of recommendation on behalf of their students to Interfolio electronically, or via the US postal service. We believe that Interfolio will offer the greatest convenience and accessibility to our students and alumni for managing letters of recommendation and other important documents.
Please Note: Pre-Health applicants will continue to use Career Services Credentials Service. If a student has asked you for a letter of recommendation to assist them with their Pre-Health application, you will send your letter to Career Services.
Letters of recommendation and other important documents may be kept on file by Penn students and alumni with Interfolio. They are kept confidentially and securely, and a student may request that Interfolio send out specific letters out as they apply for various positions or programs.
This way, when you take
the time to write a thoughtful letter for a student, you know that the student can use the
recommendation several times without asking you to rewrite it.
(If you are a graduate student at Penn, you may also open an Interfolio file
on your own behalf. This file will save you a great deal of trouble and anxiety in
getting letters out on time when you apply for fellowships, grants, or jobs.)
Here are some suggestions we hope will be helpful to you in writing recommendations:
When a student asks you to write a letter of recommendation, know that you are not obligated to
do so, and decide whether you wish to write enthusiastically enough that your recommendation
will be helpful to the student. Please decline unless you feel your recommendation will be helpful.
Since the vast majority of recommendations are written enthusiastically, those which are neutral
are interpreted as negative, and often those which are even slightly negative can seriously impair
a student's chances of admission to a graduate school or of an offer from a selective employer.
Naturally you wish to be honest. However, your honest negative evaluation may handicap a
candidate far beyond what you may have wished or intended. If you are uncomfortable about
writing positively, you have every right to decline to write at all.
Referees from Asia or Europe may be interested to know that recommendations from those areas
are usually far more understated than are those written in the States. "Mr. Jones' mastery of the
material was entirely adequate," for example, might be high praise in many countries. In the U.S.,
it translates to "Mr. Jones is an average student."
If you decide to write the recommendation, find out what the student is most likely to use it for, so
that you can stress, where possible, the factors most of interest to that type of graduate or
professional program or employer. Ask the student whether or not he or she wants a general
recommendation or one which mentions a particular goal. A student may ask for more than one
letter from you to put on file, perhaps one tailored to a particular career goal and a more general
one. You should advise the student that the recommendation dated July 10, for example, is the letter for law school, and the one dated July 11 is the recommendation for employment. This way the student is able to distinguish one from the other.
In writing, be as specific as possible. General tribute or praise serves the student less well than
specific examples. "His performance was brilliant” is less convincing than "His critique of the
experimental basis of the theory of learned helplessness was so closely reasoned that I
encouraged him to send his paper to a professional journal for publication." You can include
reference to conversations with the student and to his or her behavior toward others. For
example, "I have frequently spoken with Lauren outside of class and find that her interest in
literature is genuine and that her class work is supplemented by reading according to her own
wide-ranging interests, which include French novels in the original and Russian ones in
translation." Or, "Discussions were heated. Sandra frequently carried her point, but never
denigrated others' contributions. In fact, she was usually one of the first to recognize some else's
clear argument."
You may also include favorable comments you have heard others make about the student or your
knowledge of difficult circumstances the student has handled well. For example, "I know he has
been unusually willing to help other students who are having difficulty with the work,” or "Her
performance is especially impressive considering that she had to work twenty hours a week and
lost three weeks this semester as the result of an auto accident from which she has since
completely recovered."
Try to compare the student to others, choosing a comparison that serves the student well.
Perhaps the student was not the best you ever had, but was best in his or her discussion section.
Perhaps, although his grasp of the subject matter was only good, he wrote better than anyone
else in his section. Perhaps she can be described as "one of the five best in the section." In the world of employment and admission, omissions of relevant considerations tend to be
construed as implicit negative comments. Therefore, in a reference for any purpose, always make
at least brief mention of students' academic and intellectual abilities, of their motivation, character
and commitment and of their interpersonal skills. If you say nothing about the student as a
person, a professional admissions committee may conclude that he or she is brilliant but has
difficulty communicating with others.
Statements which are negative or refer to problems, no matter how many disclaimers are
attached, can jeopardize a student's candidacy: "I have no reason to think he is neurotic" or "Although I do not know of any specific examples of dishonesty, I have some question about his
integrity" or "While his manner is abrasive, I personally do not find it offensive." Statements such
as these can be disastrous for a candidate. If you have such concerns it may be better not to
write at all. If you wish to give a thoughtful evaluation of a student's weaknesses as well as
strengths, couple them with an explanation about how they do not interfere with performance. For
example, "He has told me he does not write quickly or easily. However, the final product is always
concise, polished and on time.”
Omit reference to appearance, as they trivialize a recommendation. If you want to refer to
personal charm, which is frequently a relevant asset, describe its effect on others. For example, "his warmth and sense of humor readily draw others toward him and he is a welcome participant
in groups of students, faculty, and administrators."
Federal law stipulates that students can see letters of recommendation unless they waive their
rights of access in advance. The student's choice will be designated on the form he or she gives
you. Most students choose to waive their rights, since they are told that graduate and
professional schools, as well as many employers, generally find confidential recommendations
more compelling. However, if you, as the author of a confidential recommendation, wish to show
a copy to the person about whom it is written, that is certainly your right.
'When Career Services counselors are asked by a student to review a confidential letter of recommendation in his/her file, we maintain its
confidentiality. We will not show it to the student, divulge its specific contents, nor recommend
that a student use or not use it. However, at a student's request, we will review a
recommendation to say whether it is appropriate for a specific purpose. For example, if you
conclude a letter, "J.B. will make an outstanding lawyer," we will indicate to a student who asks
that it is not appropriate for an application to architecture school. We make clear to students that
our definition of "appropriate" is a very narrow one and does not reflect on the degree to which a
recommendation is favorable.
The time you spend writing thoughtful letters for students is of great assistance to them. If there is
anything Career Services can do to help, or if you have questions, please contact any of our
counseling staff.
Complete information about staff, our services, and more detailed information about credentials
files and letters of recommendation can be found at: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices
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