Dear monkeyt:
Thank you for your question. Applying for admission to any school can
be a nerve wracking experience. A good recommendation letter can help
boost your son's chances of admission, but you should also remember
that it represents only one small factor in the committee's decision.
That said, I will answer your questions in the order in which they
were asked:
- How can I write an effective recommendation letter? -
I have found quite a few resources on how to write a good letter of
recommendation. As a parent, a good half of these tips may not apply
to you, so I've included the relevant ones here:
"-Explain how long, how well, and under what circumstances (course,
House affiliation, chance) you have come to know the student. Why are
you qualified to comment on him or her?
-Give the recipients of the letter information about the aspects of
student performance THEY care about; try to put yourself in their
shoes. Include those special features that will interest them.
-Address aspects of the student's performance you know first-hand.
Eye-witness accounts are more convincing than hearsay.
-Support your generalizations with SPECIFIC details or anecdotes; help
the reader to imagine the student as you describe them. A purely
general description is not useful.
-End the letter with a summary paragraph recapping your main points;
if possible, compare the student with others you have known."
Source: http://bokcenter.harvard.edu/docs/TFTrecs.html
# Describe your qualifications for comparing the applicant to other
applicants.
# Discuss how well you know the applicant.
# Choose two to three qualities that you observed in the applicant.
# Try to quantify the student's strengths or rank him or her vis a vis
other applicants that you have observed.
# Include some mild criticism, typically the flip-side of a strength.
# Discuss the applicant's potential in his or her chosen field.
Source: http://www.accepted.com/grad/LettersRec.aspx
A basic outline of a standard recommendation is available here:
http://content.monster.com/resume/resources/recommendation/
Here is another, more detailed outline:
http://www.writeexpress.com/recomm01.html
- What is a business school looking for a
strong candidate? -
The above are just some basic tips for writing letters of
recommendations. More importantly, you should try to emphasize those
strengths which Business Schools in particular look for in an
applicant. Here are some of these strengths:
# Interpersonal skills and leadership ability: How effective is the
candidate in establishing and maintaining relationships? How well does
he or she work with and/or through supervisors, peers and
subordinates? How do you assess the applicant's ability to lead,
ability to delegate responsibility, sensitivity to those less
competent and potential for future success as an administrator? Has
the applicant demonstrated willingness to work in a team environment?
# Personal achievements: Has the applicant sought or created
opportunities to make use of his or her native ability and how
effectively has he/she exploited it? How do the applicant's
achievements compare to those of his/her peers?
# Candidate's insight into his or her own assets and liabilities: Will
the applicant accept constructive criticism? Will he/she accept a
challenge with self-confidence, admit mistakes and ask for help when
needed?
# Intellectual qualifications: What is your assessment of the
applicant's analytical skills and ability to grasp new ideas? Has the
applicant's academic record been affected by any special circumstances
such as work or academic background? Does the applicant have the
ability to apply his/her knowledge creatively?
# Ability to communicate: Is the applicant an effective writer? Does
the written work submitted demonstrate a mastery of the conventions of
English? Is the written material clear, well-organized and forceful?
Is the applicant articulate in oral expression?
# Industry and self-discipline: To what extent does the applicant
possess the traits of persistence, efficiency and motivation? Is there
any reason to doubt the applicant's diligence as a student?
# Potential for the study of business: What is your prediction of the
applicant's probable performance in the study of business? How well do
you think the applicant has thought out plans for graduate study?
Among others recommended for business school, how does this candidate
rate?
Source: http://career.berkeley.edu/Letter/LetterGuidelines.stm#forms
Also from the above site:
"Business schools are primarily interested in recommendations from
professors who know the applicant and his/her academic work, as well
as from employers. Note: Schools which usually only accept applicants
with several years or more of full-time experience often place greater
importance on letters from employers. They are interested in summary
estimates of the applicant's general promise as a student of business.
The more the evaluation reflects real knowledge of the applicant and
his/her performance, the more useful the letter is to the business
school admissions committees and thus to the applicant."
For specific, quantitative factors, please see my answer to very last
question at the end of this page.
- As an owner and a parent, does the school believe
what we write? -
As a parent and an employer, there is probably no other person who
would be as qualified to write a good recommendation letter as you
are. Naturally, some people would tend to take what you say about your
own son with a grain of salt. The best way to help reduce this risk is
to be specific, as mentioned in the tips above. For example, if you
were to say: "My son is a very hard worker," it would be far less
effective than saying "When we were contracting for the California
state government for their mandatory drug tests in August last year,
John worked 60 hour weeksto help get our product ready for shipping."
It helps to sound more like an employer, rather than a gushing parent.
If you back up your statements with specific, anecdotal examples, then
that should allay much of the admission comittee's doubts.
- Who else he should ask to write a letter besides me and my husband?
-
First, I do not think it would be beneficial for two of his letters to
come from his parents, for obvious reasons. One letter, from either
you or your husband, should be enough. Naturally, you two can
collaborate on your son's strengths.
As for other people to ask, the typical writer of a letter of
recommendation for Business School would be his professors and/or past
employers. The qualifications of his recommenders are just as
important as the recommendation itself, so he should talk to the
professors who know him the best, rather than just those who he
received high marks from. Since it has been four years since he has
graduated from Berkeley, it's unlikely that he still has strong ties
with any professors in the school. His employers at CalTech would be a
great possibility.
I would also recommend that your son first probe for the opinion of
his employers about his work before going ahead and asking them to
write a letter of recommendation, just to be safe.
- What kind of grade, score is Harvard, MIT, Columbia or
UCLA is looking for? -
Like recommendations, grades and scores is just a part of the factors
that admission committees use in making their decisions. Personal
qualities and experience are just as important. That said, here are
the average GMAT and Undergraduate GPA values for Harvard, MIT, UCLA,
and Columbia. I have also included the average age of admission, so
that you may approximate the work experience.
B-School GPA GMAT Age
Harvard 3.5 705 27
MIT 3.5 663 28
Columbia 3.4 705 27
UCLA 3.5 700 28
Sources:
http://www.review.com/business/basics.cfm?schoolid=612&schooltypeid=4&CFID=7735789&CFTOKEN=9163717
http://www.review.com/business/basics.cfm?schoolid=157&schooltypeid=4&CFID=7735789&CFTOKEN=9163717
http://www.review.com/business/basics.cfm?schoolid=779&schooltypeid=4&CFID=7735789&CFTOKEN=9163717
http://www.hbs.edu/mba/sitewide/faq/index.html
Google Search Strategy:
writing letter recommendation business school
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=writing+letter+recommendation+business+school&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.review.com
I hope this helps. I sincerely wish your son the best of luck in his
applications! With a bit of luck, a lot of work, and some charm, I'm
sure he'll do just fine. =)
Best Regards,
blader-ga |
