“Ingredients of a Great MBA Letter of Recommendation” is excerpted from MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools, by Linda Abraham and Judy Gruen. You may view the job of gathering strong Letters of Recommendation (LORs) as an annoying chore, or even redundant. Haven’t you already proven in your essays…
MBA Letters of Recommendation: Who, What, Where, When & How
Selecting your recommenders requires a strategy. I like to begin with the basics: Who, What, Where, When, and How. I also like to suggest that you waive your right to access it. The waiver makes the recommendation more credible to the admissions committee. Who? Who are the best people to address the questions the schools…
Optimize Your Graduate School Application: Grades, Scores, Essays, Resume, Activity History, and More [Episode 247]
This show was triggered by a question asked on a recent webinar that I gave when a member of the audience, Glenn, asked “Are there any podcasts or resources that focus specifically on rounding out the application – recommendations, extra-curriculars, etc.” There aren’t. I decided to create one, and this is it. We’re going to…
How to Get Really Great Recommendations [Episode 235]
Joe Pavlisko is the founder of Referrio, a start-up that makes getting and writing recommendations easy. Joe graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a concurrent master’s degree in finance. In addition to English, Joe speaks Spanish and German and taught English in rural Spain. After graduating from college…
How Not to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation
Your recommenders are doing you a favor, so the least you can do is make their job easier by following proper letter of recommendation (LOR) etiquette. Breaking these important rules may result in your recommenders deciding not to dish out the most favorable review. Stay on their good side, help them stay organized, and most…
Why Do I Need a Letter of Recommendation?
Letters of recommendation (LORs) may seem like one last nagging and even redundant part of your MBA application process. After all, haven’t you already devoted weeks, and possibly more, to writing and editing your essays? Haven’t you already proven beyond a doubt to the adcom your outstanding qualifications through your polished essays, impressive admissions resume…
All You Need to Know About Recommenders & Recommendations
Some applicants have this idea that if they can just get their company CEO, whom they have never met, to write their business school recommendation, then the admissions committee will cower in awe and immediately accept them. But this is really not the case. There are two simple rules for choosing recommenders: a. You should choose…
MBA Admissions: Selecting Your Recommenders
“MBA Admissions: Selecting Your Recommenders” is the latest post in our series, Navigate the MBA Maze. The best letters of recommendation come from people who have seen you perform. The weakest letters are of the “character reference” variety (from the clergy member who knows you only as a person who dozes during weekly services) or…
Introducing the Common Letter of Recommendation
In an effort to streamline and simplify the letter of recommendation writing process, a few top business schools with the cooperation of GMAC have released the new Common Letter of Recommendation. This is an initiative, according to the GMAC website, to “help reduce the burden of asking for – and submitting – letters of recommendation.”…
10 Tips for Writing Letters of Recommendation
Pass these tips on to your recommenders for LORs that impress the admissions officers and ensure that they want to accept you. 10 Tips for Recommenders: 1. Review a copy of the applicant’s personal statement or application essays so that your letter of recommendation can dovetail with–not conflict with or duplicate–the rest of the application. 2. Ask…
What if the President of the United States Wrote Your Letter of Recommendation?
On this President’s Day, let’s ponder the following: Would a letter of recommendation from President Barack Obama, President of the United States himself, ensure your acceptance? I’m sure a letter from President Obama would get passed around the admissions office. That presidential seal and signature (even if from a machine) would be an eye catcher,…
