If I've agreed to write letters for you, please send me as soon as possible a list of letters you are going to need. I realize that job and internship opportunities may come up unexpectedly later on, but please follow these instructions to the extent possible. (With thanks to JR!)
1. Two weeks before your first letter is due, email to me, with "letter request" in the subject line:
- A master list of all of the schools/fellowships/jobs to which you are applying. Arrange this list by due date for the letters - earliest first -- indicating whether each date is a postmark date or receipt date. Include the full address to which each letter needs to be sent (in most cases this will be a URL or email address) and whether I will receive an email from a letter service with instructions and link. This will become my master document for you -- I'll print it out and tack it to my wall in my office so that I can quickly keep track of what's due when. If a letter is listed on this list, it will get done. If not, no matter how many emails you send, I may lose track of it. If you need to add or subtract items from this list, send me an updated full version. I’ll just pin it on top of your old one. Feel free to update the list as frequently as necessary; what’s important is that I always have the latest version of it.
- Copies of the proposals and/or writing samples that you will be submitting along with your application
- Copies of papers that you have written in my courses or any other academic writing that you believe to be relevant to your application. If I have written a letter for you in the past, you need not send these documents unless you have new writing that you’d like me to take into consideration.
- 2. REMIND ME. The best strategy is to send me an email the day before any given letter is due, reminding me of the upcoming deadline. If I am on leave give me extra lead time and/or contact the department administrators for my personal email or cell phone number for this final confirmation.