推荐信内容范式+ 查看更多
推荐信内容范式
+ 查看更多
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推荐信在申请的过程中,在众多的文书里,往往没有得到应有的重视。另一方面 很多同学在大学期间和老师并没有太多的接触,导致推荐信的内容非常空洞,都是 一些套话,没有细节和实质性的内容。
长期积累下来的习惯,也使得很少有人去寻求推荐信的范式,认为推荐信不过就 是把学生本人夸赞一番,这其实是很大的误区。还有的因为确实和老师没有什么接 触,对于推荐信能够体现的内容非常少,就算有也是一些比如:学习认真、课堂上认 真听讲、和同学相处融洽等,非常空泛。
美国大学,对于推荐信的内容其实是有建议的,比如,加州大学伯克利“Mixture of academic and industry letters is ideal. They should include details about your goals, accomplishments, technical and leadership skills, academic work, etc.”学术上的,工作 方面的推荐信都是理想的,推荐信需要陈述你的目标(学习和职业)、成就、技术上 的技能、领导力、学术工作等。
埃默里大学“We require three professionals with knowledge about your academic performance to write letters that evaluate your research potential and your teaching experience.”提到了推荐信要描述研究潜力和教学的经历。伊利诺伊大学的要求也 类似“The letters should address your academic and research abilities and your potential to be successful at graduate level academic performance.”
从麻省理工学院对于推荐信的建议,我们可以看到更具体的推荐信写作指导:
Please choose recommenders who are able to provide specific answers to the following questions:
· How long and in what capacity have you known the applicant? 认识的时长
· How does the applicant stand out from others in a similar capacity? 和同等环境学生 的对比
· Please give an example of the applicant's impact on a person, group, or organization. 申请人对团体、组织产生的影响(实质是领导力)
· Please give a representative example of how the applicant interacts with other people. 和他人交流的例子(沟通能力)
· Which of the applicant's personal or professional characteristics would you change? 你 对申请人个性或职业特点的改变
· If you are an academic/technical recommender, please tell us how well the applicant mastered the subject you taught or supervised and in what ways the applicant demonstrate this mastery. 如果你是学术或技术的推荐人,告诉我们申请人在你所授专业领域精通 的情况,申请人又是通过什么形式展现出这种精通的
· Please tell us anything else you think we should know about this applicant. 其余的信息
当然,对于推荐信的建议还有更多可以采纳的信息,基本上每所大学、每一个专 业都对推荐信的内容提出了或多或少的建议。
申请人应当帮助推荐老师完成推荐信,比如布朗大学的教授谈到“Ask Your Student for Help”、, “I tell my students to give me a list of everything about them that they think is relevant. I explicitly tell them to brag (some students are shy and may not give themselves enough credit otherwise): filtering their input is my job, not theirs, and I say so. Sometimes I do get items that are over-the-top, but no harm done. Much more often a student will remind me of something they did that I had forgotten, but was well worth remembering. In particular, for my top research students who are currently working with me, I have no shortage of information. But for the others, or ones I haven't worked with in a while, this helps immensely. Some item suddenly brings them alive after several years, helping me reconstruct forgotten details and provide an illustration or two.”申请人其实 是可以向推荐老师提供一些素材,帮助老师回忆和申请人接触的经历,而且“I explicitly tell them to brag”老师明确告诉学生要多夸赞自己,至于信息的真实性老 师会自己甄别。
当然,纯粹的杜撰肯定是不可取的,我们的建议是:针对所申请大学对于推荐信 的要求和建议,挖掘有针对性的素材,协助老师完成一份高质量的推荐信。
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