Letters of Recommendation
Plan to Ask Dr. Miller for a Recommendation?
Plan ahead! Make sure that I have interacted with you enough to write an informed recommendation. If I haven’t interacted with you much, if at all, the only recommendation I can provide would be to give your grade in the course and where you ranked compared to other students in the course. If I don’t know you well enough to write an informed recommendation, it will honestly be better for you to ask your GSI or another faculty member. If you decide that you want to ask me for a recommendation keep reading below…
If I have recently agreed to write any recommendation letters for you, then at least two weeks before the first letter is due, please email me:
- a unofficial copy of your transcript,
- a copy of your personal statement (if applicable), and
- all necessary forms
In that same email, please e-mail me your answers to the following questions (the more details the better):
- What are your name, year, and major?
- For what are you applying? (scholarship, graduate school, etc.)
- List the programs to which you are applying, together with due dates.
- How long have I known you (years/months), and what is my relationship(s) to you (instructor, advisor, etc.)?
- For what class(es) have I had you, what final grade(s) did you earn, and how did you distinguish yourself in my class(es)?
- How would you describe yourself?
- What are some of your academic accomplishments?
- What are some of your nonacademic accomplishments?
- What makes me particularly qualified to write a letter for you?
- What makes you particularly qualified for this position/honor/award?
- What are your long term goals and will this position/honor/award help? If so, how?
- Additional comments (REU’s, summer research, interesting jobs, hobbies, etc.)?
Please send me e-mail reminders as deadlines approach, and feel free to chat with me about other ways you can make the letter writing process go as smoothly as possible for you and your letter writers. Good luck!
Jack Miller, Ph.D.
Lecturer IV
Department of Statistics
University of Michigan
*With credit to Jo Hardin at Pomona College and Mike Orrison at Harvey Mudd College for this webpage.
