推荐信写作注意事项

孙小飞老师

2015推荐信写作注意事项

  几乎所有美国大学的申请都需要推荐信。以下的一些指导将帮助你了解寻求推荐信的对象和方式。

  1、让合适的人来推荐你

  许多学生会犯这样的错误:从有权有势的远房亲戚那里得到推荐信。这个策略经常会适得其反。你姑姑的邻居的继父也许认识比尔盖茨,但比尔盖茨不了解你,不能写出一封有意义的推荐信。这类名人推荐信会让你的申请看起来很肤浅。最佳的推荐人是同你一起工作过的老师、教练和导师。选择那些能够详细描述你在工作中所体现出热情和能力的`人。

  2、礼貌地请求

  记住,你是在寻求帮助。你的推荐人有权拒绝你的请求。不要认为某人有义务为你写推荐信,要知道写推荐信会占用大量时间,更何况你的推荐人已经有一大堆事情要做。当然,大多数老师会为你写推荐信,但在请求时应该附上合适的感谢词以表达你的感激之情。

  3、留出宽裕的时间

  如果截止日期是周五,不要在周四才想起你的推荐信。尊重你的推荐人,给他/她最少几周的时间完成你的推荐信。你的请求已经加重了推荐人的负担,最后一刻的请求是一个更大的负担。

  4、提供详细的说明

  确保你的推荐人知道推荐信什么时候截止,应该寄往哪里。而且,一定要告诉推荐人你上大学的目标,这样他们可以在信里重点强调相关问题。

  5、提供邮票和信封

  你想让写信的过程对推荐人来说尽可能轻松。一定要给他们写好地址、贴上邮票的信封。这一步可以确保你的推荐信被寄往正确的地方。

  6、不要怕提醒你的推荐人

  一些人做事拖延,而其他人健忘。你不想对任何人唠叨,但如果你觉得自己的推荐信还没被写好,偶尔的提醒是必要的。你可以用礼貌的方式去提醒。避免语气太过强硬,比如“史密斯先生,你写完我的推荐信了吗?”。而是要礼貌地说:“史密斯先生,再次感谢您帮我写推荐信。”如果史密斯先生确实还没有写,你已经帮助他记起了自己的责任。

  7、寄送感谢贺卡

  在推荐信被写完并且寄出去之后,随即对你的推荐人表示感谢。一张简单的卡片就可以表明你重视他们的付出。这是个双赢的结果:你表现出成熟和负责,而你的推荐人则觉得备受感激。

范文参考:

  Dear Colleagues:

  As Dean and President of Academic Committee of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering Department in Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, which enjoys high reputation in Asian telecommunication field, I am very pleased in recommending Mr. Gregory Tang to study in your renowned university.

  I was his teacher of the compulsory course of encoding and data processing and the director of his graduation thesis. And we also had very close contact when he was the chief editor of our departmental newspaper, so I knew him quite well about his academic performance and personal character.

  In my course of encoding and data processing, he revealed keen appetite for knowledge by his attentive and active class participation. His well-founded mastery of the course supported by his solid mathematics background won him the first place in the class with the term final score of 96, topping all of his fellow students. His remarkable performance in this course had given me very deep impression.

  Mr. Gregory Tang is well known in the department for his diligence and perseverance in study and researches. When he was taking part in SONY Cup National University and College Students Electronic Design Competition, I could always find him doing experiments in the lab, even late at night. And the AI Electric Scoreboard System designed by his team finally won the 2nd prize after intense competition with electronic aces from every corner of this country.

  In November 1999, the appraisal team decided to recommend Mr. Gregory Tang to be enrolled as graduate students with exemption of entrance exams. But at last because of his personal pursuit and plan of development, he abandoned this recommendation. I respected his choice of personal orientation though I felt his refusal of this offer a pity. Before his graduation, he mentioned to me in a conversation that he planned to work for two years and then would apply to study abroad. I felt quite glad of his plan as by my knowledge this university is of great fame and I also believe he can further enhance his capabilities of every aspect in this field if educated in a more liberal academic environment.

  Therefore, I hereby strongly support Mr. Gregory Tang‘s application to be enrolled by your program. And his extraordinary performance I have learned through direct or indirect contacts, along with his working experience in R&D of Hutchison Telecommunications have made me convinced that he will be an outstanding candidate deserving your favorable consideration.

  Yours sincerely,

  Professor, Dean of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering Department,

  President of Academic Committee, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications