Creating a perfect LOR - Tips & Tricks

Pragya Sharma ✅

Pragya Sharma ✅

Co-Founder @ Ace My Prep & Study Abroad Expert

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INTRODUCTION

When applying to the university of your dreams, You may find yourself gathering and planning all of the appropriate papers. The Letter of Recommendation, or LOR, is usually expected to be included in the stack of papers. The Letter of Recommendation is almost as critical as your Statement of Purpose (SOP), and it can make or break your chances of being accepted to a programme or even receiving a scholarship. Ideally, a letter of recommendation validates your accomplishments by including a third-party viewpoint on your experience, abilities, and personal characteristics.A letter of recommendation brings appeal to not just your academic qualifications but also your personality, helping the admissions committee to separate you from the thousands of other candidates.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Let’s take a peek at some helpful hints for writing a perfect LOR.

  1. Select your recommender carefully – You must always choose your recommenders very carefully. They must be pioneers in their fields, who have enough experience and credibility to be taken seriously by the admission committee of respective colleges. Also these people must know you in and out, and should be able to vouch for both your strengths and weaknesses.

  2. Take time to compile and your LORs – Start planning your LORs early, as these single paged documents have a lot of weightage to them. Plan the body of the LOR and the person you want the recommendation from and initiate them about the same as soon as possible. Always remember, “Hurry Makes A Bad Curry!”

  3. Important aspects are to be highlighted – The Letter of Recommendation must be a true reflection of yourself, it must bring out all your strengths and weaknesses. It must bring out the relation you shared with the recommender, and he must, with his words, bring out how you have sharpened your positive skills and how you overcame your weaknesses and setbacks.

  4. Make use of anecdotes – The Letter of Recommendation must embody all the projects and activities that you have undertaken, and the best way to describe these important projects and qualities and values you gained out of them, is by using anecdotes. An anecdote makes your LOR more relatable and makes it stand out of the crowd.

5. Use the CAR framework which stands for Challenge, Action, and Results and is a structure that stresses the applicant’s successes and behaviour in the face of hardships – This is a pro tip, that you must remember to undertake the CAR approach to make a lasting impression on the admission committee of the university.

6. Make use of strong vocabulary – Make sure to use proper grammatical english and strong and attractive words to make your LOR stand out of the crowd and to get positive attention. Also ensure that informal or texting vocabulary is not used in the body or heading of the LOR as it makes a very bad impression upon the reader.


PRO TIP: Your letter of recommendation and application should be in sync. The LOR must substantiate, not refute, the details in your submission.

CONCLUSION

Thus these were some of the tips to write a LOR that would make a lasting impression upon it’s reader. Don’t forget to employ all these tips and tactics while writing your LOR. Stay Tuned!

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