I remember when I reached to Prof. Charles Lipson asking for a recommendation letter, it was my first ever experience of asking someone to write sth. for me. I found it worth sharing for maybe you can learn something from my little story. So through this story I want to share my 6 tips of asking people to write you a recommendation letter. If you have any further questions, please feel free to comment, I will check it from time to time.
So LR( Letter of recommendation) is very important sector in your application, which is just like a taste test on a beautiful cake. However at the time of my application, I was at a very low GPA.太低啦,只有3.6,但是后来我还是申请到了剑桥大学,我的教授的推荐信起到了至关重要的作用。
1. Prepare diligently and sit in front of your class
it's not that important if you got 100 in that specific class, because you passion in this class cannot be perfectly or in other words necessarily showed in the score you got. It's very important first to tell your professor that you are truly passionate about this course by showing yourself up in the front row.
2. Introduce yourself after the class
This is very important way to let your professor know you. And despite all the awkwardness you could make, you need to be critical to initiate a conversation. For example, you could start by saying : hey prof.XX, I really love your class, and I'm really interested in ....
3. Ask a smart question
Not only that, but also you can also prepare yourself with some deep and interesting questions about this course which show your own thinking towards the course. And I'm sure your professor would be very surprised and very impressed by your own way of thinking, especially when you show up in his office. Because a lot of our students cannot make 100%use of their time, they actually miss the opportunity of developing some deep conversations with professor during the office hour. When I took a class of Prof. Charles, I was very curious about certain topics that occurred in International Relations. So based on questions, I did a lot of research on it even before the class. During that time, we were fighting a big war in Iraq, so I asked Prof. Charles if there would be any lessons we could take from this war. He was very surprised that I did a lot of thinking on that topic beyond the class. And I was also very surprised that later Prof. Charles gave me an awesome answer which is full of logic and critical thinking based on his concerning about this issue.
4. Ask for advice
As I mentioned above, I took apart in this program. And it naturally justified my require for a letter of recommendation. With great anxiety, I d by asking that I really want to go to China and really want to do a little research on XX... To my great surprise, Prof. Charles told me he knew a program which could offer me this chance and he suggested that I would be the perfect candidate for it. So asking for advice is very important because who knows that you could be that lucky one to have the first access to unexpected opportunity. without asking for advice, I would probably not realize my dream and probably be somewhere else...
5. Follow up your progress and thank your teacher
As I mentioned above, I took apart in this program. And it naturally justified my require for a letter of recommendation. With great anxiety, I asked prof. Charles if he could write me a RL. And I made it eventually, through the test and interviews. Prof. Charles helped me a lot in my application, and for my gratitude, I later send him a bottle of wine from my hometown attached with a thank you note written in hand. And now we are still in touch with each other...
6. Read books written by your professor
Building the relationship with your professor sometimes could be awkward and seemingly nerve- wracking. So the key is to show your understanding to your mutual research field. the best way is to read his books. Only Few students will do that. So remember reading his books can be really helpful in building your relationship with your professor and let him know more about you by telling him that you are trying to know about him.
Let's connect on WeChat: GregNance
Hope my 6 tips would help you, and don't forget to press the big thumbs up and don't forget to stay tuned. We will have a series of insightful webinars on " how to apply for Stanford STEM" and "how to write an awesome CV"...
Onward,
Greg Nance
CEO of Dyad Mentorship
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