Who should write it
- Academic LOR: a professor who taught you or supervised a project
- Professional LOR: a manager who supervised your work directly
- Choose people who know you well over people with impressive titles
Structure
- Recommender’s introduction and relationship to you
- Your key strengths with specific examples
- Comparison with peers (e.g. top 5%)
- Strong closing recommendation and contact details
Format
One page (400–600 words), on official letterhead, signed and dated.
Key takeaways
- Specific examples beat adjectives
- Different LORs should highlight different strengths
- Give your recommender plenty of notice