Letters of Recommendation

Email is the most effective way to ask me for a letter of recommendation. If you ask me in person, by phone, or by text, I will ask you to send me the following by email anyway. The items I need are:

• A list of the organizations to which you are applying that require a letter of recommendation with approximate due dates
• A statement of the places we’ve interacted and when, for example courses you’ve taken from me or courses you’ve TA’d for me
• An unofficial copy of your transcript

If I have agreed to write a recommendation for you and the application requires snail mail (exceedingly rare these days), please also give me a folder containing:

• all necessary forms
• stamped and addressed HMC Eng Dept envelopes (see the Engineering Office Staff for the envelopes)

If you are requesting letters of recommendation for the first time, please try to give me at least a month before the first due date. If I’ve already written at least one letter for you, please try to give me two weeks before any new requests are due. In emergencies, I can shorten the turnaround, but you better have a good reason for the short notice, and it better not be during E80 launch weeks, or when I’m editing Clinic reports.