Letter of Recommendation | Template & Samples
A letter of recommendation is a written statement of support for someone who is making an application for an academic program, job, or other opportunity, presented in a business letter format.
To be able to write an effective letter of recommendation, you have to know the candidate well in a capacity relevant to the application and be able to offer genuine, firsthand insights into their achievements, qualities, skills, and knowledge.
The advice, examples, templates, and formatting tips below will help you to write a strong letter of recommendation in support of someone applying for:
- A college program
- A graduate program
- A job
- An internship
- A scholarship
Alternative terms for “letter of recommendation” include letter of reference, reference letter, letter of referral, referral letter, and recommendation letter.
It’s especially useful for teachers or counselors who need to write multiple letters for students applying to the same schools—quickly providing suggestions to vary your language so you can produce unique letters.
Table of contents
- How to write a letter of recommendation
- Letter of recommendation format
- Letter of recommendation template
- How long should a letter of recommendation be?
- Letter of recommendation for a student
- Letter of recommendation for college
- Letter of recommendation for graduate school
- Letter of recommendation for an employee
- Frequently asked questions about letters of recommendation
How to write a letter of recommendation
Impactful letters of recommendation use concrete evidence to support the claims they make. The STAR method is a useful way of constructing examples to include in the body of your letter.
- Situation—think of a situation in which the applicant demonstrated the quality or skills you want to mention
- Task—identify the corresponding task or tasks they had to complete in this situation
- Action—describe the concrete action that they took
- Result—describe the positive outcome of their action
When our class studied the causes of World War I, Maria worked as part of a group exploring the economic background to the conflict. She took on a leadership role within the group, organizing regular meetings, delegating research tasks, and even reaching out to a local university library for additional resources. Thanks in no small part to Maria’s enthusiasm and ability to relate to every member of the group, they delivered a first-class presentation. Maria made an exceptional contribution to the resulting class discussion based on the knowledge she had acquired.
Job application
Peter demonstrated particular initiative while working on a team tasked with optimizing a beverage formulation to improve taste and stability. He independently researched alternative natural sweeteners, conducted multiple benchtop experiments, and collaborated closely with our sensory team to fine-tune the formula. The resulting prototype passed all quality benchmarks and scored exceptionally well in consumer preference testing.
Letter of recommendation format
A letter of recommendation follows the conventions of a formal business letter. Use the letterhead of your company or organization to add credibility to the recommendation where appropriate.
Letters of recommendation typically include the following elements.
- Your address and other details—including name, email address, and phone number (if not provided on letterhead)
- Date
- The recipient’s details including name and address of their institution, organization, or company
- A formal salutation such as:
- To Whom it May Concern:
- Dear [Full Name of Recipient]:
- Dear Scholarship Committee:
- Introductory sentences including:
- Who you’re recommending
- What you’re recommending them for
- How you know the candidate
- How long you’ve known the candidate
- A brief, summarizing description of the candidate
- Body paragraphs describing the reasons you’re recommending the candidate with specific examples to back up your claims
- Closing sentences including elements such as:
- A sentence offering to provide further information such as “Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or require additional information.”
- A formal complimentary close such as “Sincerely” or “Best regards.”
Letter of recommendation template
Here is a customizable letter of recommendation template, using a letter of recommendation for college as an example, to help you get started.
How long should a letter of recommendation be?
There’s no strict rule for the length of a letter of recommendation, but keep it to a single page if you can. Be as concise as possible while still providing specific examples that highlight the applicant’s key skills, knowledge, character, and experience relevant to the opportunity.
Review your letter carefully to remove vague or generic praise—focus on claims you can support with concrete evidence.
Ask the person you’re recommending whether the letter should adhere to a specified word limit.
Letter of recommendation for a student
The purpose of a letter of recommendation for a student is usually to support a student’s application for a college or graduate program, but it could also be for a job, internship, or scholarship. The student could be in high school, college, or recently graduated.
The person who writes the letter (the recommender) should be someone who knows the student well and can vouch for the student’s strengths, personality, and potential. Most “letters of rec” are written by a teacher or counselor, but students may ask other figures of authority to write a letter of recommendation for them, such as an employer, internship supervisor, or leader of one of their extracurricular activities.
Letter of recommendation for college
A letter of recommendation for a college applicant is read by an admissions officer at the respective university. It is typically confidential and is not seen or approved by the student. The recommender often has to submit the application through the Common Application platform.
It’s difficult to write a strong, convincing letter of recommendation if you don’t know the student well. If this is the case, the best course of action might be to decline the student’s request and help them find an alternative recommender.
Colleges ask for letters of recommendation so they can build up a broad picture of prospective students that encompasses more than just academic achievement.
When an admissions officer is reading a letter of recommendation, they are looking for specific evidence of how the student behaves in a classroom setting and why the student will be a good fit for their community. Admissions officers want to know about:
- Participation style: Is the student a leader or a thoughtful collaborator when working as part of a team? When did the student make a valuable contribution to a project or discussion, or provide support to others? How did they have a positive effect on the learning environment?
- Intellectual approach: How did the student demonstrate curiosity, engagement, or initiative? How did they successfully deal with a complex problem in a novel way? When were they able to make a connection that revealed particular depth of thought or insightfulness?
- Personal qualities: How did the student show maturity, responsibility, determination, self-awareness, initiative, or creativity?
- Development: How did the student overcome a setback? How did they improve and change in response to feedback or a negative outcome?
Strong letters of recommendation for students include concrete examples and insightful anecdotes to support the claims they’re making. These help convince the admissions officer that the recommender knows the student well and is being honest and authentic. A strong letter also tells the reader why the recommender thinks the student stood out in the environment in question (e.g., classroom, school community, workplace, team, or club).
My first impression of Clive was that he was a thoughtful, diligent, and highly intelligent student. I initially assumed he would need significant encouragement to contribute in class, but quickly realized that, while he preferred to refrain from guessing or speculating, he never hesitated if he felt he had something meaningful to contribute. I remember being impressed during a class discussion on Frankenstein when he tactfully disagreed with a classmate’s interpretation. He showed that he understood their argument by summarizing it, before confidently presenting his alternative viewpoint with reference to the book’s historical context.
Sample main body content (extracurricular activity):
Maria showed maturity, dependability, and considerable initiative when helping to organize a charity walk to benefit a local food bank. She proposed inviting one of the school’s rock bands to perform at the finish line and volunteered to make all the arrangements. The organizing committee agreed provided that she produce a detailed, costed plan. In my experience, many students would have lost enthusiasm at this stage, but Maria quickly came back with a realistic proposal and followed through on her idea, making a huge contribution to the success of the event.
Preparation
Before you sit down to write your letter of recommendation for a college applicant, make sure you’re well-prepared with the following information.
- The deadline (i.e., when you have to submit the letter to the online platform or email it)
- Recommendation letter requirements: Does the college, scholarship, or program have any specific requirements regarding the content, format, word count, or submission process?
- The student’s personal statement or application essay: Reading through this (or their latest draft of it) is a good place to start because it should give you insight into their goals and, if the letter is for a specific program or institution, valuable information about their motivations, which you can help to reinforce.
- The student’s resume: This will help you to check details and align your personal insights with their strengths and goals.
- The student’s high school or college transcript: If you’re a teacher or counselor, this will help you to verify details such as the difficulty of their course load as well as identify academic strengths, areas where they’ve shown improvement, and their consistency over time.
- Background information: Ask the applicant to provide you with relevant links, brochures, program descriptions etc., so you gain a clearer understanding of the opportunity and tailor your letter accordingly.
Writing a convincing letter of recommendation for a student involves a significant time commitment. Consider arranging a meeting with the student after you’ve looked over the information in the list above, but before you start writing. This can speed up the process by enabling you to efficiently verify important details, find out about the opportunity they’re applying for, and identify specific examples, anecdotes, and projects for inclusion in the letter.
Tell the student what you want to discuss so they can come prepared. If you’re going to be writing a lot of letters of recommendation for different students, you could have them fill out a questionnaire in advance that prompts them to think about their ideas for what to include.
Salutation
If you’ve been provided with the name of a specific member of staff at the university, then be sure to include it in your salutation for the letter of recommendation for college.
- Dear [First Name and Last Name]:
- Dear [Academic Title (e.g., Dr.) and Last Name]:
If you don’t have a name, or the letter is going to be used for multiple applications, then you need a generic salutation.
- Dear Admissions Committee:
- Dear [Name of university] Admission Committee:
- To Whom It May Concern:
Opening
The following information is typically provided at the beginning of a letter of recommendation for college.
- The purpose of the letter (often stated implicitly by explaining that you are recommending the prospective student)
- The name of the university and program you are recommending the candidate for
- Your relationship to the candidate (e.g., their teacher, counselor, coach, employer etc., with relevant details such as the classes that they have taken with you)
- How long you’ve known the candidate
- A brief, positive description of the candidate
Dear Pine Forests University Admissions Committee:
It is my pleasure to recommend Martina Toth for the Bachelor of Arts in English program at Pine Forests University. As Martina’s AP English teacher for both Language and Literature courses over the past three semesters, I have come to know her as an exceptional student with enormous potential.
Sample counselor letter opening
Dear Admissions Committee:
As Martina Toth’s high school counselor for the past four years, I am delighted to offer my wholehearted recommendation for admission to Pine Forests University. Throughout her time at our school, she has consistently stood out for her strong academic performance, leadership in extracurricular activities, and the thoughtfulness, initiative, and collaborative spirit she brings to our community.
Closing
The concluding lines of a letter of recommendation for college often include some of the following elements.
- A summary of the key reasons for recommending the applicant
- An expression of confidence in the applicant’s future success
- A statement about their non-academic qualities, especially if the recommender is a teacher
Martina Toth is a gifted, intellectually curious, and motivated student who has demonstrated creativity and a genuine passion for literature in her courses with me. I wholeheartedly recommend Martina as I am confident that this well-rounded, dynamic young woman will not only thrive academically but also make a positive contribution to the vibrant campus community at Pine Forests.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or require additional information.
Counselor letter
Martina Toth is a warm, sincere student whose maturity and strong sense of purpose will make her an asset to Pine Forests University. I am confident she will approach the opportunities and challenges of college life with the same dedication she has shown here.
Please feel free to reach out if I can provide any further information.
Sincerely,
Letter of recommendation for graduate school
The same basic principles for a strong letter of recommendation for college also apply to a letter of recommendation for graduate school, which should contain specific rather than generic references to strengths and achievement and be written in an honest, balanced way by someone who can demonstrate that they know the applicant well.
However, in comparison to a letter of recommendation for an undergraduate program, a letter of recommendation for graduate school typically focuses on:
- Academic or professional achievements specifically relevant to the graduate program the prospective student is applying to
- Strengths in general academic skills particularly relevant to advanced study such as critical thinking and problem solving
- Strengths in specific academic and hard skills relevant to the graduate program in questions such as legal research and analysis, laboratory techniques, or mathematical modeling
- Details of research projects the applicant has worked on
- Contributions to published research
Appropriate recommenders for a “letter of rec” for a graduate school applicant include an undergraduate professor or other faculty member, a researcher that the applicant has worked with, an employer, or a professional mentor.
Letter of recommendation for an employee
The term letter of recommendation is not only used in the context of college and graduate school applications. Job applications also sometimes require one or more letters of recommendation. In this context, people may also refer to it as a professional letter of recommendation, letter of reference, or reference letter.
If you have been asked to write a letter of reference for an employee or former employee, it is important to establish the nature of the application. If it’s for someone who’s applying for college or graduate school, then much of the advice in the sections above also applies.
Purpose
The letter of recommendation for an employee that you’re writing is probably going to be read by a hiring manager and/or the employee’s prospective new boss. Your task is to convince the reader that you know the candidate well and provide convincing, specific evidence of their relevant skills and experience as well as vouch for their character and work ethic.
Preparation
To write a letter of recommendation for an employee, it helps to have the following information.
- The job posting: This will enable you to highlight strengths and experience that are particularly relevant to the application
- The applicant’s resume: This is particularly useful if you’re writing a letter for a former employee as it will jog your memory and allow you to refer to how they’ve developed since they left your organization.
Arranging a meeting or phone call with the applicant to discuss the content of the letter can save you a lot of time. Ask them what you should focus on to make your letter specific to the particular application and for suggestions about professional achievements or supporting anecdotes to include.
How to write a strong letter
Keep the following tips in mind when writing your letter of recommendation for an employee.
- Back up your statements with detailed references to specific tasks, responsibilities, projects, achievements and situations so they don’t sound like vague, generic praise.
- Your claims will come across as more honest and authentic if you write about things you had direct knowledge of from your own perspective.
I tasked Veronika with leading the overhaul of a key internal tool that needed to handle live data updates quickly and reliably. Her solution was a new version that broke the work into smaller parts, which led to a noticeable boost in speed and reliability, especially during peak usage. She expertly guided two junior team members during the project, using her superb leadership skills to keep them focused and motivated.
Sample main body content (tasks and responsibilities)
Tomas played a key role in improving the flow of our daily office operations during a period of rapid growth. Coordinating schedules for multiple executives was becoming increasingly difficult, but he took the initiative to implement a more structured system for managing appointments and internal meetings, reducing the scheduling conflicts and last-minute rescheduling that were starting to negatively affect business.
Opening
It’s usual to start your letter of recommendation for an employee by giving the following information.
- Who you are recommending
- What you are recommending them for (e.g., the position they are applying for)
- Who you are (e.g., by stating your position and company/organization)
- How you know the candidate
I am writing to recommend Veronika Klein for the position of Senior Software Engineer at S&X Technologies. In my former role as Engineering Manager at FVF Systems, Veronika reported directly to me as a key member of my team for over two years.
Sample opening (current employee)
It is my pleasure to recommend Tomas Gabor for the role of Office Manager at PrintPrint Solutions. In my position as Administration Manager at Pinewoods University, I have directly supervised Tomas for the past three years, and I am convinced that he would be an asset to your organization.
Frequently asked questions about letters of recommendation
- Who can write a letter of recommendation?
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Who can write a letter of recommendation depends on the application type.
To be able to write a strong letter, the recommender needs to know the applicant well so they can speak from firsthand experience.
College applicants, for instance, typically ask one or two of the following trusted figures to write a letter of recommendation for them:
- A high school teacher
- A high school counselor
- An employer
- A leader of an extracurricular activity
QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you draft a polished, effective email to ask someone to write a letter of recommendation for you.
- What is the difference between a letter of reference and a letter of recommendation?
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The terms letter of reference and letter of recommendation are often used interchangeably.
In the U.S., however, a “letter of recommendation” typically refers to a letter written for a specific application (e.g., to college or graduate school) that is tailored to the opportunity in question. A “letter of reference,” on the other hand, usually refers to a general endorsement (e.g., written by a person’s employer when they leave a job) that can be used for multiple future applications.
