Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation (LOR) can be one of the most fraught parts of the application process, and a session during a recent AIGAC conference where members and schools discussed LORs, confirmed this in spades.

Indeed, if the application represents a big puzzle that tells the story of a compelling applicant, the LOR can be the toughest piece to nail.

You want your recommender to praise you, but you also want their letter to hit all the salient points. Recommenders are happy to write the letter, but they don’t always have the time or “bandwidth,” so they ask you to write it up for them to sign. However, the schools insist that your letter be written by your recommender only. Then there are the language and cultural issues. Not every manager speaks English, nor even understands what a LOR is. It’s a minefield. And AIGAC is here to help!

We have drafted an informational document that you can give your recommenders. It explains the LOR process, discusses what the schools hope to read, and offers tips on how a client can guide a recommender in a way that is consistent with what schools have advised on their own websites.

We have translated this into several languages, to make it easier for recommenders around the world to support applicants:

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