A letter of recommendation is an attestation from a third-person about your character, strengths, suitability for the program and more. Letters of Recommendation form an important component of your overall application. They allow the admissions committee to get a holistic view of you as a student, or as an employee from a third-party perspective. 

Every university has its own requirements for the number of LORs. Some universities ask for 3 recommendations, while others ask for 2 or just one. 

For a Master’s degree program, you may have to submit an academic referee’s recommendation, as it’s likely that you are applying for a master’s right after your undergraduate coursework. On the other hand, for an M.B.A program, the recommendations must be from your current or previous employers you have worked closely with. Ideally, your direct supervisor is a good fit to be your referee. 

It is also very important to pick the right referee for your recommendation. The Admissions Committee will usually prefer someone who has worked very closely with you on a gamut of projects, rather than someone senior who has not worked with you directly. 

While each university has its own set of questions, some of the common ones, which are to be answered by your referees include:

• How long have you known the candidate and in what capacity?
• Describe the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
• What is one feedback that you may have given the candidate, and what was their response?

In order to help get better and more suited recommendations, it is important that you work with your referee to explain to them the reason for your application, and what strengths you would like highlighted in order to strengthen your application. At the same time, it is important to not dictate exactly how you’d want the recommendation to be, as a trained eye of the Admissions committee can see through inauthenticity. 

Overall, choose your recommenders wisely, and help them through the process in order to get great letters of recommendation. 

Sign up at UniRely for free and our counselors will help you draft the crucial documents for your application including letters of recommendation, essays, scholarship forms, etc. To get more information about how to apply to universities abroad for your master’s degree, please visit our website – www.unirely.com.