If you are thinking about asking me for a letter of recommendation, please read this guide in its entirety.

The purpose of this guide is for students to better understand the process of asking for a recommendation, because it is often part of the hidden curriculum, or the unwritten, implicit lessons and norms, of university education.

Before requesting a letter of recommendation from me, consider the following:

• Am I the best choice to write this letter you? Have our interactions been extensive enough that I can say more than “this person got [GRADE] in my class”? For a letter to be strong, the letter-writer needs to be able to speak personally about the student in ways that are relevant to the program. This means the letter-writer should have first-hand, specific examples where the student has demonstrated a high interest, creativity, or excellence in the content or skills of focus. When deciding who to ask for a letter, you should reflect on the skills and competencies required for program of interest and consequently, the people who may have observed the relevant skills and competencies. When asking for a recommendation, it is both reasonable and advisable to specifically ask: “Will you write me a strong letter of recommendation?” Weak letters more often hurt, rather than help, applications!


• How much time is there between your request for a letter and the program deadline? My colleagues and I write many letters every year. This is a very important part of our job and strong letters take time to write. When requesting letters from any of us, please give us as much advance notice as possible. I require at least four weeks notice, unless I already have a pre-existing letter written for you. The last thing I want is to jeopardize your application by submitting a rushed, weak letter. If you anticipate requiring a recommendation letter from me to apply for programs, you can reach out to me before applications even open and tell me the kinds of programs you want to apply for (e.g. software engineering, UI/UX design, graduate programs). In CS, industry internships and job openings for undergraduates are usually posted throughout the fall and winter, and graduate program deadlines for the following academic year are usually in late fall/early winter.

If we decide that I am NOT the best choice to write you a letter, it is not a personal judgment on my part or a reflection of your capabilities. It most likely means I didn't get to know you well enough to confidently write a strong letter, or I didn't have enough time to write you a strong letter. Below are some tips to cultivate relationships with potential letter-writters:

• Prioritize assignments in particular classes to produce outstanding work
• Express interest consistently and visibly in class
• Go to student help hours/office hours to deepen your understanding on material you find interesting
• Take initiative in group projects
• Apply to do a summer research project with them
• Apply to be a teaching assistant for a class

If we decide that I am the best choice to write you a letter, I will write as many honest, positive, and professional things as I can based on what I know of you and your work. To help make the letter as detailed and specific as possible, you should provide me with any other information that you think will help me an even more detailed letter, such as a transcript, resume/LinkedIn profile, relevant application essays, etc.

Now that you've read through this guide, feel free to email me or stop by my student help hours!