LoRs‐Information

Just finished writing several LoRs and sending them, and thought I could provide some perspective on LoRs. This also serves as a guideline if you'd like me to write you a LoR.

Asking

• If a student wants a letter, they should ask at least 2 weeks in advance (ideally a month). DO NOT put down my name as your LoR writer unless you explicitly ask me.
• If I don't know you well enough, I will let you know and advise you to find someone else. But if you insist, I will still write you a letter.
• The student needs to waive their right to view the letter. It is a confidential evaluation, and I will not write one if they insist on seeing what I write.
• The student should provide me their CV and, if they'd like, their SOP, so I can determine whether I could complement some of the things they've said.

Writing

• I will not ask you to draft a letter for me. My reputation is on the line, and I do not want a student (or AI) writing a letter on my behalf.
• I do not write negative letters, i.e., I don't say bad things about you (even if you're bad). However, if I don't know you well then a neutral, short, or generic letter will not help your case given the competitiveness.
• It takes me about 30+ minutes for a strong letter for someone I know well, and about 5 minutes for a letter for someone I don't know well.
• In all letters, at the end I will include a short paragraph about an area you need to improve, regardless of whether you're super strong or weak. But I will phrase it in such a way that the graduate study environment or a good advisor can help you overcome it. It makes the letter more complete and not just full of praise.
• I do not customize the letter for specific schools. You customize your SOP to explain why you want to apply to school X and work with professor Y. I do not need to explain why you want to go to school X or why you would be a good fit for professor Y. Note that if I know you and Y very well, then I might send a letter directly to Y to mention you.
• My letter will have the university logo and my (digital) signature. However, I should note that when I read a LoR, I do not pay attention to whether it has a logo or signature.

Sending

• After you put my email into the application system, they will send me a request email with a unique url to go to. It will give me some deadline that is likely not the same as yours---usually later. In some cases they don't even give me a deadline (various LoR request examples are shown in my Demystify book, e.g., Section 3.2.3: https://github.com/dynaroars/phd-cs-us/).
• I do not mind if the student is anxious and sends me multiple reminders. I will likely not respond to them. But I am not bothered by reminders. Over-communication is better than under.
• Most systems simply ask me to upload the letter---though a few have short questions like comparing the applicant to undergrads or grad students. As an adcom reviewer, I don't really pay attention to these comparisons---only the letter matters.
• I usually send my letter (in PDF) in batch mode, e.g., I just sent out 10+ letters all at once and cleared my inbox of these requests. It took me less than 30 seconds to upload the PDF and hit send for each letter. So do not worry that it is time-consuming or a burden; it's not.
• After I send my batch, I'll let the student know I just sent everything and ask if I missed any. I would appreciate if the student shares an online spreadsheet showing what schools they have asked me to write letters for so I know what to expect (and if I miss something).