The Secret to Getting a Letter of Recommendation, Makes You Auto Glimpsed!

Reccomendation Letter Illustration (Made by Canva)

Imagine, you've prepared all the required documents for a scholarship but your reccomendation letter sounds generic, cold, and unconvincing. That's shame, isn't it? In fact letters of reccomendation can be the difference that makes yout scholarship application stand out among other applicants.

A letter of reccomendatiom is one of the important components of a schoalrship application, whether it's for domestic or overseas study. This letter of reccomendation is about your personality, academic ability and potential as a scholarships candidate. This article will help you understand how to get a strong and personalized reccomendation letter.

1. Choose the Right Reccomender

Not everyone you know is suitable to provide a letter of recommendation, in general, letters of recommendation from academic figures can be obtained from supervisors, department heads, homeroom teachers, or deans. Meanwhile, letters of recommendation for academic figures can usually be obtained from influential individuals in the community. For example, supervisors / heads of organizations, traditional leaders, religious leaders, sub-district / village / regent, or other figures. So, try to choose people who:

• Getting to know you academically or professionally

• Have worked together on project activities, or learning

• Can provide objective and positive assessments

2. Call Ethically and Clearly

When requesting recommendation letters, contact the recommender well in advance (ideally 2-4 weeks before the deadline). When reaching out, try to be specific about what scholarship you are applying for and state your reasons or motivations for choosing them as a scholarship recommender. Here's an example:

"Good Morning / Afternoon, Mr / Ms.

Introducing myself, Rina, a Chemistry major in the class of 2022. I am preparing to apply for the MEXT scholarship, a scholarship to study at a Japanese university with the last date of application scheduled for March 18, 2025. Given your intensive guidance in the “Research” course, I believe you can provide a strong perspective on my academic potential. Therefore, it is my hope that you will be willing to write a scholarship recommendation letter as one of the required documents to apply for this MEXT scholarship. 

I would like to thank you in advance for your willingness."

 

3. Provide Supporting Information

To help your recommender write a strong letter, you can also include:

• Newest CV/Resume 

• Motivation letter or study plan

• Scholarship information and criteria required

This way, the recommender can write a recommendation letter that is more personalized, relevant and contextual while still fitting their style and perspective on you.

4. Don't Forget to Say Thank You

After getting the recommendation letter, don't forget to thank the scholarship provider. Then, after the announcement of the scholarship acceptance, you can also inform the giver of the recommendation letter whether you are accepted or not.

In addition to letters of recommendation, scholarships usually require essays. To find out the importance of essays you can read here.

Although it may seem trivial, a good recommendation letter can be one of the differentiating points when applying for competitive scholarships. Choosing the right individuals in your recommendation letter, a polite approach, and careful preparation can help you to get a strong recommendation letter that will convince the scholarship provider.

So, start building professional relationships now so that you have many options when you need these scholarship recommendation letters!

If you want to see a complete scholarship recommendation letter example, you can check out @NurCahya's channel!