Guidelines for Students Requesting Letters of Recommendation

1) If you are requesting a letter of recommendation, it is essential that you have taken at least one, and hopefully more, of my classes. If I'm unfamiliar with your academic work, I won't have much to say about you in a letter of reference. If you did not do particularly well in my class, you may want to consider whether it is in your best interest for me to write a letter for you.

2) You should choose a reference from someone who knows you well. If I don't know you but you took my class, the best I can do is report your grade and relative standing in the class. Work hard to get references from those who know you best.

3) In online recommendations, please fill in the following information.

Name: Steven Greene
Title: Professor
Address: Department of Political Science
NCSU
Box 8102
Raleigh, NC 27695
Phone: (919) 513-0520
E-mail: shgreene@ncsu.edu

4) If you want me to write a recommendation, you should waive your right to see the letter. It is honestly not in your interest to retain this right because it makes the recommendation less credible. If you are concerned that a recommender may not be writing a sufficiently positive letter you should be seeking out a different recommender.

5) If you are seeking a law school recommendation, let me know that you have read this. Seriously.

6) In order to help with writing your recommendation, a single email providing as many of the following as you can will be helpful: an unofficial transcript; a résumé; any statements of purpose or personal essays you will be including with the application; and a paper written for my class.  Also, please indicate all classes you took with me, the grades you received, and the semesters in which you took them. Finally, provide me with a short note explaining what you are applying for and outlining any additional information that might be relevant to my letter, even if you already have told me these things verbally.

7) If you need more than one recommendation, please provide a summary of the deadlines in the email.

8) Please provide your materials far enough ahead of the due date so that I can give your letter the time and care that it deserves. This means a minimum of two weeks before the deadline. At busy times of the year, that may not be sufficient, so please plan ahead. If you have not received electronic confirmation 2 days before the deadline that I have submitted your recommendation, please send me a reminder email.

9) There's great advice on requesting recommendations here.