Letter Of Recommendation (LOR) - A Complete Guide

What is a Letter of Recommendation?

LOR full form is Letter Of Recommendation and it is one of the numerous necessities while applying to learn at colleges abroad whether it be for MS, MBA, or Ph.D. It is one of the critical parts of the application interaction, which can be the main consideration for your acknowledgment in an organization. Hopeful students ought to contribute great endeavors to get a solid suggestion to get into the ideal organization. This guide gives a total outline of what makes a decent suggestion letter and how to draft one. Confirmation officials at colleges need to go through a great many LOR applications to choose the favored up-and-comers, and a student's LOR is a significant factor all the while.

Types of LOR (Letter of Recommendation)

Letter of Recommendations extensively can be grouped into two general classes dependent on the Nature of the Recommender.

1. Academic LOR

A letter of the proposal given by an employee of your past organization. Generally, colleges request that you give a few LORs from your past foundation (this could be your instructors from your schools if there should be an occurrence of college classes and educators from your school in the event that you are applying for experts' projects). The LOR Format from Faculty regularly shifts in the substance and requires the educator to feature the candidate's achievements as a student of the course. Regularly, these are more pertinent to MS Colleges Abroad or Bachelor Courses abroad.

2. Professional LOR

The vast majority of the MBA Colleges Abroad have predefined work experience necessities. As needs are, they demand a Professional Letter of Recommendation from a prompt director. The Professional Letter of Recommendation format from a Supervisor differs from an Academic LOR as far as some particular substance that centers around the candidate's capacity to work inside a group, the openness to space just as his/her authority capacities - all-important to the MBA course applied for. 

The LOR is an archive that furnishes the affirmation officials with an extensive understanding of your appropriate candidature, for induction into the concerned University. The full type of LOR is a Letter of Recommendation. This letter targets empowering the Admission officials to acquire a more clear and good image of your experience, accomplishments, commitments, and abilities imparted by the recommender through the proposal letter.

Who needs LOR and why do they need them?

Any student going to concentrate abroad requires a scholarly letter of suggestion. Regardless obviously (UG, MS, MBA, or Ph.D.) and country, each student needs at any rate three letters of proposal from either their school or expert foundation. For UG students, LORs can be taken from instructors, educators, school advocates, or administrators. For MS students, school educators, entry level positions boss, or group captain/director from the organization they have worked in can give suggestion letters. For MBAstudents, LORs ought to be absolutely proficient, particularly, in the event that they have insight of three years or more. For MBA and Ph.D. competitors who have as of late moved on from school, they can request proposal letters from their school teachers or venture guides.

How to write a Recommendation Letter (LOR)?

Unless and otherwise specified, a letter of recommendation is a 400-500 word essay that talks about the candidate's strengths and weaknesses. There are some things you must include in a recommendation letter like the nature of the association as well as the tenure of the association. Apart from that, some basic letter of recommendation format must also be kept in mind.

• Most of the universities require this letter to be on the official letterhead.
• For an Academic LOR - the university's letterhead is required and for a Professional LOR - the letterhead of the company.
• One thing important to remember in the latter case is that the letterhead should be of the company the recommender is working in. This usually creates a problem if your recommender has moved on to another organization. Hence, the student must know how to choose the right recommender.
• An important point to be kept in mind is that a LOR is not a repetition of an SOP.
• An ideal LOR is supposed to demonstrate aspects/perspectives of your personality not mentioned in your SOP or resume. Thus, an ideal recommender is the one who knows you well, has personally witnessed the quality of work delivered by you, and readily agreed to provide specific instances of your valued contribution and excellence.
• A generic LOR is a strict no-no, as it does not offer much value to your candidature for the program you are applying to.

You must always remember that the Admission Committee scurries through thousands of applications and yours is one of them. Now, in order to stand out, focus on including your qualities and accomplishments reinforced by real instances. Another important point here is to endeavor to make all your LORs unique and that can be achieved only if you include unique instances in all the LORs. Making an Impressive Letter of Recommendation is as important as writing a winning SOP. Just keep the formats in place and remember the common mistakes you should avoid in a recommendation letter.

Letter of Recommendation Format

Out of the multitude of configurations and tests LOR accessible on the web, one gets into a situation choosing the correct organization for themselves. As clarified above, there are various sorts of suggestion letters that rely upon the course and the recommender itself. Aside from this, it is likewise critical to focus on the organizing and generally speaking cleanliness of the archive. To assist the students with their application interaction, AECC Global has its own arrangement of rules that assists this cycle by exhorting them about the organizing, organization, and cleanliness of the archive.

Why Are Recommendation Letters Important?

As pretty much every application requires the accommodation of 2-3 suggestion letters, you should have your recommenders recognized and consented to set up your letter well on schedule. Likewise, don't underestimate the significance of a LOR as it is nearly pretty much as significant as your affirmation papers, mission statements, continue, or some other record besides. A Letter of Recommendation is the report that gives validity to your entire profile as it unequivocally upholds your profile from experienced and learned teachers and people. Additionally, while picking the privilege recommender, you should recall a couple of key pointers following which you will wind up submitting remarkable LOR's to the Admission Committee. 

A letter of recommendation enhances your chances to secure a seat at your favorite university. Many consultants believe that your application documents, if drafted in the right way, can influence the Admission Committee even if you do not have excellent scores. Along with it, the LOR works as a validation of your resume. For all the work experience and projects you have mentioned in the resume/CV, a LOR from their respective validators will help in enhancing your profile. Adding to it, a LOR has a more personal touch, thus, Adcom is able to see you as a person rather than just an applicant.

1. Online Form Submission

These are the simplest to submit and as the name proposes, these are online structures that are to be submitted with the snap of a catch. A few Universities give the students' recorded recommenders a login entry to sign in to and answer a couple of inquiries regarding the students. While this structure is the simplest to submit, it is frequently the trickiest suggestion letter design. What should be made a note of in this structure is that occasionally a University would likewise ask the recommender would demand a record joined which ought to be in the correct arrangement. Subsequently, students are constantly encouraged to keep the composed LORs prepared and examined.

2. E-Mail

Frequently Universities require the Recommendation Letters to be shipped off the Universities' Admission Office by the recommenders by their authority email ids. Note that the recommender ought to be given the important application reference number to stamp in the subject of the sends. Likewise, an authority email id is significant and in the event that the recommender can't give something similar. In the strictest terms, nonexclusive email ids are not acknowledged by the colleges. Be that as it may, in not very many cases, if the recommender can approve the utilization of an individual email id, it very well might be acknowledged. Likewise, the proposal letters for this situation are examined pdf documents and should accord to the fundamental organization of a LOR (complete on the letterhead with the stamp and marks.)

3. Post

This keeps on being a profoundly well-known arrangement. This is, as the name proposes, the customary postal framework wherein the suggestion letters are gathered by the students in fixed envelopes, marked, and stepped (however not really in the authority envelope but rather on the authority letterheads). The students are needed to gather the proposal letters to the college by messenger, alongside an introductory letter that obviously makes reference to the course name, application number, and all particulars of the recommenders. If it's not too much trouble, note that duplicates of suggestion letters are not adequate and the students should have unique proposal letters for all colleges. On the off chance that the students applying to three colleges that require the LORs by post, the students ought to guarantee to get unique LORs in three-fold to be shipped off to the different colleges.

The college messages your recommender with a structure and an opportunity to transfer a LOR document. The structure poses various inquiries to see how well the recommender knows you and how solid is the rating you. An example LOR structure from UIUC can be seen here.

Obviously, the freestyle LOR that your recommender can submit is the real itemized LOR that is spoken about in this post and these examples. Follow the organization referenced underneath:

1. Start with a greeting and heading, for example, 'To the responsible party in question.
2. The principal para ought to contain the presentation and capability of the recommender and why he is composing this letter. For what reason would he say he is able to suggest you?
3. The following 2 sections will contain explicit evaluations of the competitor with suitable models. These will discuss numerous parts of his appointment and why the recommender is suggesting him.
4. More explicit the models, the better the LORs. Maintain a strategic distance from speculations and gestures of recognition (figure how a third individual will expound on you). The last part ought, to sum up, the evaluation and suggest the possibility for the program being referred to.

Do's while writing a Letter of Recommendation

• Guarantee that you give the official satisfactory chance to draft the LOR. On the off chance that conceivable, invest energy with your official, assisting the person in question with the data sources needed to draft the letter.
• Pick an official who thinks about your scholarly and expert accomplishments and for quite a while, as opposed to picking somebody who knows or thinks often minimally about you.
• Guarantee that the letter is written in fresh and straightforward English. Ensure the letter isn't loaded with sentence structure blunders.
• Additionally, ensure you follow a particular arrangement and text style while composing the LOR – each LOR should have the fundamental construction, beginning with date and spot, greeting, arbitrator's presentation, the body of the LORs, a finishing up section, lastly the mark.
• Guarantee that all data expressed in the letter coordinates with your scholastic scores; particular accomplishments identified with the course you wish to study ought to be referenced. Continuously keep up verifiable exactness.
• On the off chance that the organization has determined a word-limit, say 500-600 words, for the LORs, at that point guarantee you stick to it.
• Guarantee that the letter is conveyed to the college a long time before the cutoff time.
• Actually, thank your arbitrator for the assistance and backing they show.

Common Mistakes to Avoid while Writing a LOR

There are many normal slip-ups which both recommenders or the students requesting a suggestion should keep away from. Following are a few hints to present an incredible LOR by evading those normal mix-ups:

• Utilizing unscrupulous methods: It is enticing to purchase a letter of suggestion these days, particularly on the web. Notwithstanding, it is shrewd to not fall into these snares. Colleges utilize very complex counterfeiting identification programming, experienced confirmation advisors.
• Moving toward some unacceptable recommender: Remember to just request suggestions from individuals who have communicated with you as of late in an expert or scholarly limit. In a perfect world, you ought to request proposals from educators who have guided you in some exploration/commonsense limit or from previous bosses in the working environment.
• Not giving your recommender sufficient opportunity: Recommenders are frequently bustling experts with tight timetables, hence, you ought to consistently move toward recommenders around 3 a month ahead of time. Besides, you ought to consistently register with your recommenders in regards to the situation with your LOR to guarantee they have not overlooked the extremely significant undertaking you have endowed them with.
• Not giving your recommender proper guidelines: Don't forget your professor interacts with 100s of students on a daily basis. And your former manager has tens of employees reporting to him/ her. Take the effort, therefore, to make life a little bit easier for your recommender by updating them with your latest achievements and accomplishments.
• Misrepresenting your solidarity and accomplishments: It is significant that your letter of proposal from boss or teacher incorporates both your qualities and shortcomings. Frequently recommenders center just around the candidate's qualities and neglect to make reference to regions of progress. Nonetheless, colleges will in general value-productive analysis, and including them just serves to make the suggestion more real and true.

The significance of a letter of proposal can't be over-accentuated as this letter passes on definitely more about an up-and-comer than evaluations, scores, and class rank. Much of the time, the entrance advisory board utilizes the data revered in the letter to get familiar with the student's specialized capacities, experimental information, relational abilities, and expert credits: characteristics that basically can't be passed on a scholarly record.

How To Ask For a Letter of Recommendation?

Above all else, request your instructors for a letter from suggestion for school well ahead of your application cutoff times.

I recommend a flat out least of a month before your application due date, yet the previous you ask, the better. You can even inquire as to whether they'll keep in touch with one for you over the late spring driving into your senior year, so they have a lot of time to finish your solicitation.

Recall that educators who instruct seniors get a ton of solicitations for letters of suggestion. Also, a great, careful letter of proposal for school is tedious to compose. At the point when educators consent to keep in touch with you a letter, they need to compose intricately and explicitly about you, which takes loads of thought and care! Give them a reasonable heads up.

How to get LOR from college?

The most flawlessly awesome approach to request an instructor for a letter from the proposal is vis-à-vis, face to face. This guarantees that your educator really gets your solicitation and that you have the opportunity to talk about the particulars of due dates, your school decisions, and so on. The most ideal approach to ask an instructor in person is to plan a meeting with them or find them during a free period so you have a satisfactory chance to talk about the solicitation. Don't just ask an instructor after class or in the foyer in passing, if conceivable.

The following most ideal approach to demand a letter of the proposal is recorded as a hard copy, by means of email. Indeed, regardless of whether you ask your instructor face to face, it's a smart thought to likewise circle back to an email.

Contingent upon your secondary school and their school application programming, you may likewise be needed to welcome or send a letter of suggestion solicitation to your educators that way. In the event that you are uncertain about the convention for this, ask your instructors or direction advocate.

Submission of letters of recommendation

The submission of application documents depends on the university. Nowadays, most universities have introduced online application and submission processes. However, they may be a few universities that require a hardcopy of all your documents. You can check this on the respective university website and accordingly plan your submission. If you have to send the hard copies of the drafts then it is recommended to apply at least two weeks before the university deadline.

Number of letters of recommendation (LORs) required

Usually, any university you apply to would ask for at least three letters of recommendation. These three LORs should be from three different recommenders as discussed above. Sometimes the university is specific about what type of LORs they require. For instance, if they ask for three LORs, they would like two from the professional front and one from academic, or at least one should be from the professional front (internships) while the rest can be from your college faculty. Therefore, it is important to check the university website thoroughly about instructions related to your application documents and the submission of drafts.

Whom should you ask for a letter of recommendation for Masters?

Here is how you get the letter of recommendation for ms from professor, Any university you are applying to would ask for at least three LORs. Thus, you have to pick three people who can do this job perfectly. The format and content of a LOR is as crucial as the recommender- the person who will be recommending your profile for admission. The choice of the recommender is solely on you. Preferably, the Assistant Professors (college faculty) or Project Managers and Supervisors, with whom you share a good rapport, and have worked closely, should write you a LOR. If you have work experience or done an internship, then you can ask for LOR from your manager or team lead/project lead. If you are going for studies directly after bachelors, then you can get all three LORs from the college faculty (Professors and HoD). Read How to Choose a Right Recommender to know more about it.

Format of Letter of Recommendation for students

Reference letter is always submitted in the form of a letter discussing the applicant's qualifications, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. A typical letter of recommendation for college admission or for any purposes follows the format, which comprises of three sections divided into five paragraphs:

1. Introduction (one paragraph)
2. Information on applicant's skills and Quality (Three paragraphs)
3. Conclusion (one paragraph)

Content of Letter of Recommendation

• Fundamental data on the most proficient method to submit proposal letters to colleges abroad are:
• Recommender relationship with the student
• Length and nature of the relationship
• Insights regarding student and student execution (that is; potential examination points, student's latent capacity, polished methodology, relational and initiative abilities, enthusiasm for the field, individual qualities, and different strengths explicit data)
• Confirmation of important work insight
• Past and current accomplishments
• Logical capacity and basic reasoning
• Scholarly and extracurricular potential and exercises
• Enthusiasm, energy, inspiration, and responsibility towards the proposed program
• Uncertified or affirmed abilities applicable to the program applied for
• Elements that may influence the candidate's presentation
• Data on how the candidates charge against peers

Tips for Indian students

Quite possibly the main thing to recall is that the Admission Committee runs over a large number of utilizations and a great many records. Here are a couple of tips to remember while drafting your LOR:

• They can undoubtedly perceive if the LOR was copied or composed by a similar individual. Along these lines, it is fitting not to duplicate any substance from the web.

• Regardless of whether you are composing the LORs yourself, ensure the characteristics and examples are real and vary for each LOR, as each recommender will have various encounters and relationships with you.

• The substance ought to contrast just like the style without digressing from the organization.

• Aside from this, here are a couple of 'don'ts' to remember whether you are composing the LORs yourself: Common Errors in a LOR.

LOR sample for MS from Professor

To whom it may concern,

It is my immense pleasure to support ABC's candidature to your institution for a Master's in Computer Science program. Currently, I hold the designation of Deputy Head at the Department of Information & Communication Technology in XYZ Institute. Even though it has been more than 3 years since I taught and guided ABC, I still clearly remember him for his innovative ideas which he showcased as a student.

I met ABC when he enrolled for Network Technologies elective during the 6th semester of his undergraduate studies. Though the course was for 6 months, we interacted several times outside the classroom. He also reached out to me post his graduation for professional guidance. He was not only a competitive student but also showed an impressive grasp of technical concepts.

I recall that ABC was a step ahead of most of his peers when it came to experimenting with his learnings. In the 7th semester, he implemented his knowledge of TCP/IP protocols, wireless networks, etc. which he acquired during the Network Technologies course to develop a couple of software applications. In one application, which was an Android Chess game, he made a multiplayer application where two users could connect their phone wirelessly and play the game in real-time. In the other application, he developed a chat module using TCP/IP in which users could chat with the admins of the app. He would often come to me for guidance during the development of these applications. I felt proud as a teacher to see my student practically implementing his classroom learnings.

ABC was well recognized among the juniors. He actively guided them in their studies or projects whenever they approached him. He was always calm and composed, so the juniors always loved to interact with him. I was also impressed with his time management skills. He would always be on time for his classes and never failed to meet any deadlines. Despite having multiple assignments to complete in a semester, he would neither delay the submissions nor ask for extra time.

Besides the coursework, he attended workshops and participated in technical events. His love for Android programming even won him an award in one of the hackathon contests organized by the Computer Science Club, IECSE of our college in 2017. He was also a member of the Lions Club of the college and actively participated in various social causes.

It does not come to me as a surprise that even after 3 years of professional work experience, he is still eager to pursue a Master's in Computer Science. I strongly recommend ABC for his graduate studies at your institution. His keen desire to explore and learn will take him far ahead in life. I wish ABC all the best in his graduate studies. Please feel free to contact me in case you have any queries on this recommendation.

Sincerely,

Recommender's Full Name

Designation – Department

Institute's Name

Contact Information

Letter of Recommendation from Employer for Higher Studies

Work experience is significant for everybody. Yet, not at the expense of training. On the off chance that you are now working some place and need to concentrate further, you may have to request that your manager give you a proposal letter. This can make it simpler for you to apply to a school or college based on your experience and information on the work that you have done. In the event that you are on this side of the table, where you need to compose a suggestion letter for a worker who needs to concentrate further, the time has come to burrow a few realities. Ask the worker for what reason he needs to apply for a specific program. And afterward gel together their abilities with the degree or recognition program that the person in question is applying for. When a match is made, it is not difficult to compose a suggestion letter.

How Should You Go About Asking Someone to Write You One?

You may be persuaded of the force of a strong letter of suggestion—however, that doesn't really mean asking is any simpler. Luckily, there are approaches to make this solicitation somewhat less nerve-wracking. First of all, contemplate who you're inquiring about. Poulson cautions that you would prefer not to demand a lot of any one individual—which means you should avoid your references when pondering who to request a letter. "Be aware of your undertakings and pick people to compose letters who probably will not do calls too," she adds.

While a letter of suggestion from somebody who's high up the stepping stool can be great, ensure that you're asking individuals who really know you and your work. "Having a senior individual compose a conventional letter of proposal with no genuine information on you and your abilities will deliver the contrary impact," clarifies Padua. Also, regardless of whether it doesn't do any harm, it will not assist. As far as really making the ask, Poulson shares that a smidgen of bootlicking can go far. "Begin with the amount you've appreciated working with them and the amount you esteem their assessment," Poulson adds.

At last, make the way toward composing the letter as effortless as conceivable by engaging them with the data they need. "Make it simple for the individual to suggest you," Padua says, "Advise them explicitly what you might want to feature." That may mean glancing back at your hard-working attitude or effect in the group in a past position or stressing a particular range of abilities that coordinates with the kind of jobs you're focusing on in your inquiry. Whatever it is, ensure you're clear about the thing you're searching for.

Also, that incorporates being clear about your course of events too. Keep in mind, you're asking this individual for some help, so you should be practical with your assumptions. It's keen to give contacts, in any event, seven days (however in a perfect world more) to get the letter drafted and gotten back to you.

Asking for a Letter of Recommendation

Hi [Name],

I'm connecting in light of the fact that I'm applying for [type of role] with [type of company] and am arranging a couple of letters of proposal to accentuate why I'm a certified fit for this sort of position.

I truly partook presently cooperating at [Company]—especially when we had the option to work together on [project]. In view of that, I thought you'd be an extraordinary individual to vouch for my mastery in [key expertise area] and my capacity to [impressive result].

I realize you're occupied. Thus, in the event that it'd help, I'm glad to pass along some extra arguments and data to make composing this letter somewhat simpler.

Would you be happy with composing a letter of this nature for me? Kindly let me know whether you have any inquiries concerning this, [Name]. How about we get up to speed over espresso soon—my treat!

The very best,

[Your Name]

LOR MBA programs assess a candidate's presentation in the scholarly and non-scholastic regions. Dissimilar to LOR necessities for MS courses, MBA students need to submit both expert and scholarly letters of suggestion.

The majority of the colleges across the world request 2 to 3 letters of suggestion for a MBA with in any event one LOR composed by a business or director. Recall that recommenders ought to have direct association with candidates for 2 to 3 years in an expert limit.

How to Write a Letter of Recommendation for MBA?

Letter of Recommendation for MBA ought to be composed by somebody who is equipped for portraying the candidate's characteristics with reasonable models and accounts. Since proficient LORs are compulsory, the how-to-compose rules for an expert LOR for students pursuing MBA are referenced underneath:

Relationship with Applicant: It ought to be set up in the starting section of your MBA course LOR. The recommender's assignment, association, and relationship with the candidate ought to be talked about.

Jobs and Responsibilities: Move on to the insights concerning the work duties of candidates in the association. His/Her exhibition audit, any remarkable accomplishments, relationship with other colleagues ought to be talked about.

Vision: Letter of suggestion for an MBA ought to obviously state what candidate's drawn-out vocation objectives and how an MBA program will help in accomplishing them. It isn't important to give an itemized plan. The entrance advisory board simply needs to find out about the vision and objectives of candidates.

The extent of Improvement: This part is imperative to underscore the significance of an MBA in the candidate's expert life. Nonetheless, recommenders should avoid being straightforwardly basic. Portray the candidate's shortcomings inconspicuously and depict how this degree will help him/her in improving further.

Letter of Recommendation for MBA: Guidelines for Popular Specializations

The three fundamental points to be canvassed in the letter of proposal for a MBA for any specialization are the candidate recommender relationship, the candidate's characteristics, and guides to help such cases. Nonetheless, every specialization is extraordinary and requires explicit ranges of abilities.

Conclusion

A LOR can't be messed with. It can either get you to need you need or take you no place. So it is fundamental that you construct a solid affinity with either your boss or your educator, however just through buckling down.

Contact AECC Global, as we have a dedicated team of richly experienced and certified professionals to help students. Inform us as to whether you have any inquiries. We can assist you with more exhortation on the best way to get a squeezing LOR for abroad schooling done.