Here's what's going on withThings to note when writing a recommendation letter for studying in the United StatesHow to write a recommendation letter for studying in the United States, ,How many recommendation letters are needed to study in the United States, ,Benefits of recommendation letters for American students, ,How important is a recommendation letter for American students?The problem.
Things to pay attention to when writing a recommendation letter for studying in the United States
1. The recommender's attitude should be clear
Does the recommender recommend the applicant with all his or her heart or with reservations? Of course, if the recommender recommends the applicant with all his or her heart and without reservation, then it means that the applicant is excellent enough! The school can feel the popularity and strength of the student, and may treat you differently. Some schools require the recommender to make a comprehensive evaluation of the student in the recommendation form, which means that the applicant is evaluated among the students he or she teaches. Since this evaluation is the recommender's personal evaluation, it can be relatively high.
2. Recommendation letters are both valuable and expensive
When applying for studying abroad, schools usually require 2-4 recommendation letters from the applicant's school mentors, professors, or internship unit leaders. If the school does not impose a mandatory limit on the number of letters, it is recommended that you provide 3 letters. Generally, each recommendation letter can recommend at least 2-3 characteristics of the applicant, so 3 recommendation letters can recommend almost all aspects of the applicant, from learning potential to research ability, from personal character to comprehensive quality.
3. The format of the recommendation letter should be in place
The format of a recommendation letter is basically the same as a general letter, including the letterhead, date of issue, name of the recipient, salutation, body, courtesy at the end of the letter, signature, name of the recommender, job title, work unit, contact information, etc. The information about the applicant mentioned in the recommendation letter should be consistent with other application materials.
4. Make the relationship between the recommender and the applicant clear
In the body of the recommendation letter, it is necessary to clearly state the time when the recommender and the recommended party met (when did they meet and how long did they know each other), the place where they met, and how they met (what is the relationship between them, teacher and student, superior and subordinate, or both). Only when the recommender knows the applicant well enough, the recommendation letter will be more credible.
5. Recommendation letters should show their authenticity
The recommendation letter must be signed by the recommender at the end; the submission of the recommendation letter has nothing to do with the "student": the recommender submits the recommendation letter directly to the website or system designated by the school. If it is a paper recommendation, the recommendation letter must be sealed and signed, and the name must be signed on the seal of the envelope. The front of the envelope should be written to indicate the envelope type "Recommendation Letter".
6. Recommendations should be based on reason and evidence, not empty talk.
Recommendations for students with clear majors generally focus on the applicant's talent, academic potential, learning ability, innovative consciousness, work attitude, personal conduct, etc. This is the core content of the recommendation letter. Pay special attention to the "degree" of the recommendation. An appropriate evaluation of the applicant's foundation, ability and future prospects combined with actual examples will convince the admissions committee more than exaggerated praise.
Extended reading: Introduction to writing materials for studying in the United States
1. Resume or Curriculum Vitae, that is, personal resume
Resumes are easy to understand. They are to carefully review what you have done in the past and divide these experiences into different parts, such as education background, work or internship experience, research experience, extracurricular activities, personal interests and hobbies, etc. In fact, everyone may think that resumes are simple things, but they are not! Especially for English resumes, accurate English words can instantly improve the resume's style! I have helped many students write or polish CVs. Some people's resumes are full of simple words such as have, make, take, which are boring to read. Remember, a high-end CV must be comprehensive in content, highlight the key points, have a unified format, and use rich and accurate words!
Second, personal statement, also known as PS, that is, Personal Statement
In short, it is to ask you to write down your motivation for applying so that the admissions committee can understand and know you.
According to the experience of hundreds of study abroad experts, the PS is to answer the following core questions:
1. Why did you choose this major and what are your future career goals?
2. Why did you choose to attend this school?
3. Why should our school admit you instead of others?
Of course, I am not saying that your PS should be structured in three paragraphs, answering these three questions separately, because that is too rigid! What I mean is that if I can find the answers to these three questions from your PS (maybe its structure is very unique), then this PS will at least not reduce your overall application points!
Graduate applications, except for a few research-based masters, are mostly taught. Students will go to work after graduation, so it is very important to have a clear career goal and know how the major and school you are applying for can help you achieve this goal! For example, many students who want to study finance in the United States hope to stay in the United States to work in the future, but in the actual PS, I don’t recommend that you really write this way. First of all, Americans are a little bit resistant to the employment of foreign populations.
In addition, everyone knows how difficult it is for foreign students to enter the top financial pyramid in the United States, let alone the investment bank you wish for! Therefore, when formulating an application strategy, these practical factors must be taken into consideration and must be reflected in the PS!
3. Recommendation Letter (Letter of Recommendation)
A letter of recommendation describes an applicant's strengths and weaknesses from a third-party perspective. Usually two or three letters are required. The combination is two academic recommenders, one academic recommender and one workplace recommender, or two academic recommenders and one workplace recommender!
The importance of recommendation letters is controversial. Some people think that now foreign admissions officers know that Chinese students usually write their own letters and then ask for signatures, so they think recommendation letters are not important! But at Langmeng, to be honest, I don’t know how credible they are, so we also take the same cautious and serious attitude towards recommendation letters, because maybe a school decides to accept you just because of a sentence in your recommendation letter! So we can’t be careless in any step of the application!
When choosing a recommender, I only adhere to a simple principle: find someone who is related to your professional field, familiar with you and has something to say! Other experts and recommendations are not the key for me, and there is no need to be obsessed with them!
IV. Essays
If you have studied the admission questions of several schools, you will find that what we prepare at the beginning may be very general and cannot be used directly, but must go through a very complicated and important polishing procedure!
This is because different schools usually design their application questions into several parts. The first one is probably what we usually call a personal statement, but the other questions are to understand various aspects of the applicant, such as leadership, personal interests and hobbies, or other things you want the admissions officer to share! In short, all of these are called essays. There was once a school that wrote seven essays for the applicants. It was really amazing!
5. Writing Sample (WS)
If you want to apply for a master's degree in the fields of media, journalism, sociology, etc., the writing sample is designed by the school to professionally test your English level! Because once you are enrolled in these majors, you have a lot of papers to read and write, so the English level requirements for admission will be correspondingly higher!
The most important part of WS is the topic. Ws is a comprehensive way to check academic ability and writing ability, so the content is inevitably related to my major, which is also my professional field. And it is not only ws that are related to writing professional materials, but also ps, so there is a reference (a good ws will provide good support for ps). Of course, when choosing a major, we will not be limited to one major or one school. We may need multiple ws. We save energy by writing only one ws (usually only one ws). But the premise is that the position is at least related to the major you choose and not irrelevant. Since it is based on the paper format, it is also written according to the paper. Thesis paper, need to be elaborated and analyzed. You can argue and analyze the research on the problem, which is the way we advocate. Of course, it is also possible to summarize and comment on the book or article or research, but its strength is not as strong as the theoretical description and analysis of the research on the problem. In the actual writing process, it is not necessary to write a new paper. For doctoral or master applicants in certain majors, the papers they have written can be applied.
Extended reading: What materials are required for studying in the United States at different stages?
1. Studying abroad in high school
The first is the resume. The school will usually give you the format requirements directly. The content needs to include your basic information, educational background, honors obtained, and social activities you have participated in. When writing, you must highlight your own strengths.
The personal statement is a supplement to the resume. It has stricter format requirements and a word limit. You need to use limited words to fully demonstrate your abilities, expertise, and research level. Only then can it be considered useful material.
The recommenders that high school students can choose are generally teachers and principals, who can objectively comment on the students' abilities from other people's perspectives, which will help the reviewers to fully understand the students. Everyone needs to have a good relationship with the recommenders in order to write a good recommendation letter.
2. Undergraduate Study Abroad
You also need to prepare a resume and statement during the undergraduate stage, and you can write more content. When preparing, you must pay attention to the logic of the writing, and the content must be substantial, highlighting the key points of the article so that it can be better grasped.
You need to prepare two or three letters of recommendation, and choose the English teacher, math teacher, and the principal, because language and math are the key subjects of admission assessment, and the principal has a high social status, so the recommendation letter he writes will be more convincing.
The essay focuses on students' thoughts, observations, reflections and what they have learned from their experiences. If your writing score in the English test is not high, you should be careful with your choice of words and sentences when writing the essay. Don't use someone else's work, as this can easily be discovered.
3. Master's degree study abroad
When preparing for a master's degree, in addition to the resume, statement and recommendation letter mentioned above, you should also pay attention to the honors, awards, internships, extracurricular activities and essays, which are the demonstration of your comprehensive strength.
You should participate in more external activities and competitions to increase your life experience, so that when you prepare relevant materials, you will be able to have something meaningful to say and be able to impress the staff who review the materials.
In addition to narrating events, the content of the article should also discuss the causes, background, and impacts of the events, and elevate the theme of the article to enhance the depth and breadth of the article.
Summary of Things to Note When Writing a Letter of Recommendation for Studying in the United States
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