Letters of recommendation are a critical part of the MBA application package. Yet some MBA applicants make the mistake of underestimating their importance. Letters of recommendation provide the only outside information the admissions committee receives about you. A recommendation can validate the claims you have made in your essays. Also, it can add stories that you could not fit into your essays and further build on the narratives you have shared. A great recommendation paints you in a positive light and complements your application. Getting stellar recommendation letters that highlight your candidacy and impress the admission committee requires a careful strategy.

Choosing Your Recommenders:

Choosing a recommender who can write a valuable letter for you can sometimes be extremely challenging for the applicants. Your recommendation should come from people who know you very well, who are very familiar with your work, and with whom you have interacted on a regular basis. These people are capable of writing a letter that discusses your talents, accomplishments, potential, personal and professional traits. Your letters will have more credibility if they are written by people who are senior to you and are in evaluative positions.

Best Recommenders: Your direct supervisors are your best recommenders as they are familiar with your working style, work ethic, accomplishments, and contribution to the company and are in a position to substantiate these with powerful examples. However, people sometimes have certain issues with taking their letters from their current supervisor for different reasons. For example, some applicants are too new in their current job so they hesitate to ask their new employer for a letter, and sometimes they don’t feel safe in telling their supervisor that they plan to quit soon. Therefore, if asking a recommendation from your immediate supervisor may jeopardize your job or prevent you from getting the best recommendation you deserve, then you may need to consider other options.

If you can't get your direct supervisor or think your supervisor's Boss will be better, you should certainly consider them, provided they are familiar with your work. You may also reach out to the previous boss for that letter. This is why it is important to keep strong relationships even after leaving your previous job. (Most applicants take one letter from their immediate boss and another one from their previous boss). Finally, if you have strong extracurriculars or community work, then it is a great idea to ask the president or supervisor of that organization to write about your valuable contribution to their organization.

Thus, your best recommenders are those who know your work very well, are impressed with your work, and are open to improving their LORs to ensure your success.

However, your job is not done even after you have picked the right recommenders. Guiding your recommenders is as important as choosing the right recommenders.

Guiding your Recommenders:

Here are some important steps you can take to ‘guide’ your recommenders.

1. Request a meeting with them: I always advise applicants to request a lunch or coffee meeting with their recommenders so they can explain to them in person the importance of their recommendation and apprise them of the themes they can discuss in their recommendation letters. You may also jot down relevant anecdotes in which you have demonstrated professional and personal traits being asked about and share details of how you contributed to a particular project, or how you interacted with others or went above and beyond. If your essays are ready, consider sharing them with your recommenders, so they are familiar with your personal and professional stories. At MER, we always encourage applicants to share their essays with their recommenders.

2. Guide them about the Process and Format of Recommendation Letter: Most recommenders are not familiar with the MBA application process and think that they have to write a formal letter of recommendation letter wherein they simply have to sing your praises. Unfortunately, a laundry list of robust adjectives doesn’t make a good recommendation letter. Therefore, you need to inform your recommenders about the process and let them know that they will need to respond to specific questions that each school will ask about your strengths and personality traits and substantiate them with examples from your work.

3. Follow up with them: You must keep following up with them to avoid ‘surprises’ and unnecessary stress when deadlines are hovering on your head. In my experience, I have seen some applicants having a difficult time with their recommenders as the recommenders waited until the last day to share their LORs with them, and when they did, it was not in the desired format that the school required. In the past two years, two of my clients could not submit their applications in Round 1 because their recommenders could not complete their work on time.

4. Give them Enough Time: To make your and your recommenders' lives easy choose your recommenders well ahead of time before the deadlines. They are busy professionals, so they need to be given enough time to help you with this important document in your application process. Please remember your application is your utmost priority at this time, but it’s not a priority for them. They are doing you a huge favor by investing their time in vouching for you.

5. Offer Support: Even though recommenders may not share their letters with you, you can still offer support by providing them with bullet points or reminders of key projects or accomplishments they might want to mention. This helps ensure that the recommendation is aligned with your overall application strategy without overstepping boundaries.  If you are confident that you have guided them well about the process and expectations, you don't need to worry. They are not obligated to share their letters with you, and they are likely to do their best to help you stand out.

Lastly, after they submit their LORs, don’t forget to thank them for their effort.

If you plan ahead, choose the right recommenders, engage with them early in the process,  guide them about the process and expectations, and follow up with them, you will not only save yourself unnecessary anxiety before the deadline but also succeed in obtaining stellar recommendations.

Good luck with your application!

If you want to discuss further, sign up for a free consultation or email me at poonam@myessayreview.com