Letters of recommendation for prestigious fellowships are distinctly different from letters written for job applications, and often for graduate school applications. They must be written to add value to a candidate’s application by addressing how the fellowship opportunity is a good fit for the applicant’s goals. To do this effectively, it is important to learn about the mission and purpose of the fellowship so that you can address how the fellowships is a good fit for the applicant.
A Strong and Effective Letter of Recommendation for a fellowship will:
- Provide anecdotes of a student’s achievements in order to add context that fully conveys the scope of their accomplishments (show, don’t just tell).
- Detail how well and how long you have known the student, and in what capacity.
- Respond to any specific questions/prompts that are asked in the instructions for letters writers provided by the fellowship’s sponsors.
- Discuss and evaluate the student’s scholarly potential and academic record.
- Describe any research activities the student was involved in and provide details of their role and the significance of the impact that they made.
- Describe the candidate’s personality and work ethic, using concrete examples that demonstrate a strong relationship.
- If relevant, give informed comment on the candidate’s application essay discussing their ability to complete the fellowship successfully, and elaborating on any themes contained within.
- Provide evidence of the candidate’s leadership and service noting specific examples.
- Use narrative technique to highlight the student in action, as a tutor, researcher, peer mentor, volunteer, leader, innovator, and/or activist.
- Rank the candidate in relation to other students you have taught.
- Follow the sponsoring organizations submission instructions, and be complete and submitted on time and preferably a few days before the deadline.
Unhelpful and Ineffective Fellowship Letters of Recommendation will:
- Be too generic and/or too short.
- Offer accolades of the applicant, but then provide no examples or anecdotes to provide context and put the accolades into perspective (always show, never just tell.)
- Focus too much about the writers accomplishments rather than focusing on the applicant.
- Provide no insight into the applicant’s potential and qualifications for the fellowship.
- Detail the curriculum or structure of a class, rather than detail and provide perspective on the applicant’s performance in the class.
- Be written with faint praise.
- Not relate to the fellowship’s purpose, or not adhere to the instructions provided by the fellowship organization.
- Be addressed to the wrong fellowship organization.
Need More Letter of Recommendation Guidance? – Baruch’s Prestigious Fellowship Advisor can review any rec. letter written for a fellowship to offer guidance and suggestions to help your letter add value to the candidate’s application.