SOPTalk

A lot of students wonder why we discuss letters of recommendation on our site dedicated to the statement of purpose. The answer is because both are written statements about you and you exercise some level of control over both them. However an important aspect is that they are related.

While the statement of purpose is your own voice telling college admissions why they should admit you, a recommendation is an independent voice doing the same. Best of all it works as a testimonial since it highlights something great about you and adds some credibility to your application. It’s not critical the person providing your recommendation be well known but it is critical that they know you well.

Another point I would like to highlight is that your recommendation should add to your SOP. If your statement of purpose emphasizes your academic credentials and how your were a straight A student, then your recommendation could emphasize your active participation in the debate club and how that helped in your personal growth.

Think of it as telling a story from two points of view and both POVs provide a lot of depth and dimension to the main character - you. Good luck with your applications!

Tags: General, Writing Tips, letters of recommendation, recommendations by Prashant
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A few more dos and don’ts:

Do:

• Keep your emails short and readable
• Use good grammar, punctuation and complete sentences
• Include a relevant subject line (such as ‘2007 MS application’) so that your email won’t be relegated unseen to the junk bin.
• Respond as promptly as possible. These are busy people who may forget you easily. A prompt response also shows that you are seriously interested in that school’s program.
• Send short thank-you emails. As the less powerful person in the situation, it is your job to get back.

Don’t:

• Send formula emails. Try to fit it to the specific person and institution. In a similar vein, be careful with copy-pasted emails where you send an email to one person but address it to another.
• Be unduly familiar. Address your respondent as Professor / Dr. So-and-so. Use the kind of language you would in a business letter.
• Use email smilies or acronyms, even common ones like BTW (by the way), FYI (for your information), IMHO (in my humble / honest opinion). First, older email users may not be familiar with them. Second, they bring in an unwelcome level of familiarity.
• Use frivolous or unsuitable names in your email (e.g. partygirl@aol.com). It’s best to use such email addresses for correspondence with friends and family.
• Assume that the professor will remember every particular about your application and correspondence. Remind them of relevant details. The focus is on relevant here - don’t repeat every single bit of information. If you reply to an email as part of a
  thread, you give the respondent an opportunity to scroll down and read earlier emails if necessary.
• Make unreasonable demands, such as expecting them to inform you early of your application status. (Though if you need to know to make a decision about another offer, it’s okay to send a polite email informing them of the situation and asking if they’ve made a decision on your application)
• Send long papers or large attachments. Often people would rather have you send such things to the admissions committee as part of your application packet. Don’t assume that faculty members have time to read lots of stuff (unless they’ve given you permission)
• Hound your repsondents. If they don’t reply, gracefully let it go.

Finally, there are plenty of good websites that explain email etiquette, and it’s worth checking out some of these. A couple that we liked are:
emailreplies.com This website focuses only on email etiquette, and has a quarterly newsletter.
owl.english.purdue.edu This is the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. It has a few other useful handouts and exercises on various aspects of writing. Also links to other writing resources and labs
Queensland University This website covers a few issues that the others don’t. It has plenty of good common-sense advice.

Tags: General, Writing Tips by seemantini
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When you apply to a school, it is often a good idea to write a short email to professors who are doing work you may be interested in. This note is a reminder of some things to keep in mind to ensure that you don’t ruin your chances by saying or doing the wrong thing on email.

When would you initiate emails to professors in a department you’re applying to? Let’s assume that these are people that don’t know you, and you haven’t been introduced by a mentor who knows them.

The first email:
This email is usually a few lines long, maybe a couple of paragraphs. You use it to express interest in the department’s and professor’s research, telling them what excites you about the research, and why (it should not, however, be copied and
pasted from your statement of purpose). In the second paragraph you may summarise a few salient parts of your background, hoping it sparks an ‘a-ha’ reaction. Many professors will not reply to this - they’re too busy, or not interested, have
no funds, or prefer to wait for the admissions committee to make its decision. That’s okay. If you do get an interested reply, continue the conversation as long as reasonable and necessary.Be courteous but not desperate. Even if you get just a
polite acknowledgement of your first mail, send a thank-you email in response. It may even be reasonable to ask for the contact details of a student who can tell you about life in the department.

The email update:
This email is usually a few weeks or months after the first introductory email. You might use it to give an update on your status or eligibility. Perhaps you have gained additional qualifications, successfully finished a project or begun working in a new area. In short, an event occurs that you think will positively impact your application, and you want to let people know about it. So in addition to writing to the admissions committee, you also write to inform the professors you are interested in.

The regret email:
You’ve made up your mind where you’re going, and it won’t be this university. Or the university informs you that they won’t be making you an offer. It’s good manners to express regret to the people you’ve been corresponding with. Even if you aren’t
going to their university, you may run across them again in your career. It will be good to leave them with a positive impression of you.

Tags: Application advice, General, Writing Tips by Prashant
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