A letter of recommendation is an honest assesment of a student’s or graduate’s abilities. Typically, a referee has to report how long and in which capacity they have known the applicant, what the applicant’s main strenghts and weaknesses are, and whether the applicant is suitable for the program. The referee also has to rank the applicant relative to a peer group (for instance, fellow undergraduates or graduates at the VUB) for a number of criteria (intellectual & academic capacity, capacity for fluent and logical oral and written communication, proficiency in English, the ability to work hard, perseverance, creativity, leadership, ability to work with others, and social skills). The referee usually has to rank the student in percentiles (top 5%, top 10%, top 25%, top 40%, average, below average).
I usually put “don’t know” for “leadership” and “ability to work with others” because I can’t observe these skills, unless you served as a student representative in the curriculum committee (opleidingsraad). For the other criteria, I’m honest in my assessment: if you were below average in my classes or if your GPA was below average compared to other graduates of your graduating class, I will write so in my letter of recommendation. In such cases, it is better not to ask me for a recommendation.
If you just took one class with me and didn’t write a bachelor paper or master’s thesis with me, my assessment is based on little information. This will be clear to the selection committee from my answer to the question “how long and in which capacity have you known the applicant?”, and the selection commmittee will give little weight to the recommendation. In such cases, it is also better not to ask me for a recommendation.
I only provide recommendation letters for specific applications (e.g., for a specific job, internship, graduate program). I don’t provide general-purpose recommendation letters (‘to whom it may concern’).
Allow two weeks to get a reply (and more if you didn’t provide me with all the information requested, see below). I get many requests for recommendation letters, often clustered in a short period of time. Don’t send requests less than two weeks before the deadline.
If you want to request a letter of recommendation, send me an email (luc.hens@vub.be) with in the subject line request for recommendation and in the body of the mail (unless specified otherwise) the following information:
Attach the following documents to your mail (as pdf files):
Don’t send documents other than those specified in above. Send documents in pdf, not in any other format (except for the recommendation form when it is provided as a word processor document to be filled in by the referee).
Letters of recommendation are confidential and strictly personal. If you have access to your letter of recommendation, you are not allowed to share it with anyone other than the admissions officer in charge of your application.