Important Questions

• Who should I choose as recommenders?
• How should I ask for a recommendation?
• How will I know if my recommender will write a positive letter?
• Should I waive my rights to read my recommendations?
• How many recommendations should I include with my application?
• What if I don’t plan to attend graduate school immediately upon graduation – should I ask for recommendations now?
• May I store my recommendations in the Career Development Center?

Who should I choose as recommenders?

Because you are applying to an academic program, people who are familiar with your academic work are ideal recommenders. Even better are faculty members with whom you may have had several courses - they are able to attest to your academic and intellectual growth and development over time and provide meaningful assessment of your performance.

If you have relevant professional experience, it may make sense to also include a recommendation from someone who supervised you while you engaged in that relevant professional experience - this will be an essential recommendation to include if that experience is required for admission.

Avoid choosing as recommenders people who only have personal knowledge of you (e.g., family member, friends) or who know you from a distance (e.g., public official). They are unlikely to be able to provide first-hand knowledge of what's relevant to an admissions committee.

We invite you to meet with a career counselor to strategize who to choose as recommenders.

To schedule an appointment, stop by Craig-Lee 054 or call 401-456-8031.

How should I ask for a recommendation?

It is best to ask for a recommendation face-to-face. Make an appointment to meet with your prospective recommender and bring "helpful" documents. These documents will help your recommender distinguish your work from their many other students or employees making it easier to write a targeted recommendation.

If your prospective recommender is a faculty member, you may choose to bring a copy of your transcript showing the good grades she'd given you as well as a copy of a paper you'd written for one of her classes. A copy of your personal statement may also be helpful.

If your prospective recommender is a former/current supervisor, you may choose to bring a copy of a project or document on which you worked and a resume.

We invite you to meet with a career counselor to discuss which documents might be most helpful to your prospective recommenders.

To schedule an appointment, stop by Craig-Lee 054 or call 401-456-8031.

How will I know if my recommender will write a positive letter?

During your face-to-face meeting with your prospective recommender, you will want to confirm to the best of your ability that the recommendation they provide is a positive one. If you are not being asked to waive your rights (see below), you will be able to read the letter and determine if it supports your candidacy. But what if you can't read the letter?

While your recommender may not be willing to reveal exactly what she will write, it is reasonable for you to ask,"Now that you know my plans, are you willing and able to write a positive recommendation in support of them?"

If your recommender says "yes," establish an agreed upon date (well in advance of the application deadline) by which the recommendation will be completed. Not only does this provide you with a safety net should it take her longer to complete the recommendation than anticipated, but also it allows you to comfortably follow-up: "As you may remember, we agreed my recommendation would be completed by..., I just wanted to check to see if that is still the case."

If your recommender says "no" or seems to communicate "no" with her body language, don't push the issue. You want your application to be supported by strong recommendations. One bad recommendation may sink your candidacy.

We invite you to meet with a career counselor to discuss what to do if you are concerned that you don't have enough people to write positive letters in support of your candidacy.

To schedule an appointment, stop by Craig-Lee 054 or call 401-456-8031.

Should I waive my rights to read my recommendations?

This is tricky - there's no one correct answer. Consider the options and make your best possible choice.

Some people recommend that you should never include anything in your application that you haven't seen - you don't want any surprises!

Some people recommend that you do waive your rights - they believe these recommendations hold more weight with readers because they are assumed to be more candid evaluations of your ability.

Some recommenders may refuse to write on your behalf if you don't waive your rights. Still others may give you a copy of what they've written even if you do waive them - this is something that they would offer, not something that you would ask for.

We invite you to meet with a career counselor if you'd like to discuss whether or not to waive your rights to read your recommendations.

To schedule an appointment, stop by Craig-Lee 054 or call 401-456-8031.

How many recommendations should I include with my application?

You should include the number requested. Admissions committees know what and how much information they need to evaluate your application. Don't flood them with unnecessary information.

You may, however, decide to include one additional recommendation if it introduces different information that directly supports your candidacy than is provided in your other recommendations.

We invite you to meet with a career counselor to discuss what additional recommendations you may choose to include with your application.

To schedule an appointment, stop by Craig-Lee 054 or call 401-456-8031.

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What if I don’t plan to attend graduate school immediately upon graduation – should I ask for recommendations now?

Not everyone goes to graduate or professional school immediately upon graduation.  Some programs prefer that you wait until you have significant, relevant real-life experiences.  Some people simply make the choice to attend later on.

Regardless, it makes sense to secure your recommendations now while your professors are freshly acquainted with your academic performance. They will then be available to you when you are ready to apply to programs.  If your plans shift, you have an original document from which your professor can draw to write an updated, more targeted recommendation.  Consider opening an account with Interfolio.  For a small fee, you can store and forward recommendations as well as other documents related to your application to graduate school or your job search.  If you have waived your rights to read your recommendations, you can have your recommenders forward their documents directly there.

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May I store my recommendations in the Career Development Center?

The Career Development Center no longer offers a credential service where you can store your recommendations and then request to have them sent out.  But there is a place, where, for a small fee you can store multiple documents related to your application to graduate school and/or job search.  We encourage you to set up an account with Interfolio as an inexpensive, effective way to manage your documents.