With my junior year well underway, I’ve started to do some thinking about everything that comes after you leave the “orange bubble”. As someone whose Princeton experience has been shaped by diverging interests, it’s exciting to imagine applying the unique skillsets I’m gaining to new contexts. Still, whether it’s internships, fellowships, or research projects, nearly every opportunity is guarded by an application process of some kind. While some applications can be relatively simple, many are decidedly complex. Of the many interlocking parts that make up any application process, letters of recommendation represent some of the most critical cogs in the machine. What makes letters of recommendation so important is that they can provide a new perspective on you as an applicant, affirm aspects of your application you’ve already shared, and more fully characterize you as a person. Still, asking for letters of recommendation can create uncertainty.
The first question involved when thinking about requesting a recommendation letter is assessing your timeline. It’s always best practice to reach out a month in advance before a deadline. While this might seem like a long time, it’s important to remember that the faculty, preceptors, or project members you reach out to are people too. Giving such a large window allows them to fit writing your letter into their busy schedules without having to compromise on quality. However, life is rarely ideal. Generally two weeks’ notice acts as a solid benchmark that is somewhat more realistic. It can also be useful to give your writers an earlier internal target than the actual submission date, to allow space for anything that could go awry. In situations where you discover a funding opportunity or a research program at the last minute, it can be difficult for recommenders to pull together a strong letter in time for the deadline. These tense situations make determining who to reach out to all the more important.
For a letter of recommendation to be impactful, the writer has to be able to paint a picture of you with more nuance than your transcript or résumé. In order to add this depth to your application the writer has to know who you are. Especially in the sciences, this can feel like a challenge, as large lecture courses don’t necessarily lend themselves well to having connections to faculty. Something important to consider, though, is that in many cases, preceptors and TAs are going to be able to speak more authoritatively about you! It is critical not to overvalue prestige in this situation. This is not to say that a faculty perspective isn’t valid or even useful. In fact, a joint letter of recommendation, or one that includes preceptor or TA input, is a great way of getting the best of both worlds. In any case, choosing a recommender who knows you well makes it that much easier for them to write the letter. This is especially important in situations requiring a tight turnaround. Having someone who can write about you based on recent interactions, or even remodel an older letter, is incredibly useful.
Once you decide who to ask for a recommendation letter, you still have to actually make the request, and how you go about asking for a letter of recommendation might be the most important part. One of the best things to do when asking for a letter of recommendation is to provide guidance. Anyone agreeing to take the time to write a recommendation would like for it to be as impactful as possible, and providing context is a great way to do this. This doesn’t just mean sending over your résumé. It means sharing the aspects of your experience that you want to highlight through your application. It can also mean reminding your recommender of key moments from the past. The best way to get a strong letter is by making sure your recommender has everything they need to write one.
While the entire process of asking for recommendation letters can seem transactional, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, a good recommendation letter won’t be transactional at all. Instead, the process should be relational. Building and maintaining relationships before the need for a letter of recommendation even arises is crucial for a genuine letter that speaks to you as an applicant and as a person. Nurturing these relationships in a genuine way is not only essential for getting a strong recommendation but also for being a strong applicant. By understanding recommendation letters not as a product of a request but instead as the result of a relationship, it becomes easier to see why they can be so impactful—and hopefully why they need not be sources of anxiety.
— Stanley Stoutamire, Jr., Social Sciences Correspondent
