- Letters of recommendation for internships/jobs, scholarships/fellowships, academic transfers, and graduate school applications are supposed to be dispassionate assessments by professors of students’ past performance and future potential, so students would want to seek recommendation letters from professors that can attest to students’ strong performance and potential (e.g., the student did really well in classes taught by the letter writer).
- Writing a letter of recommendation requires me to comment on various aspects of a student’s academic performance and skills (e.g., writing, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity), so as a general rule I will only write letters of recommendations for students who have taken one of my advanced classes. I will write letters of recommendations for students who have taken my introductory course only in cases of exceptional academic performance.
- Logistics: (1) the student should approach me about the possibility of writing a recommendation letter at least two weeks before the letter is due; I can’t guarantee I will able to write letters with shorter notices; (2) the student should provide me with information about the position/program/fellowship the letter is for, so that I can appropriately frame the letter.
- It is good practice to inform the letter writer about the outcome of the corresponding application.
Costantino Pischedda 