Advice on writing letters of recommendation

Here's a piece of advice about writing letters of recommendations for your students if you are a new Teaching fellow or teaching assistant.

USE specifics. It is very important that you include specific information about the student. Do not be vague. Try to remember 2 or 3 really great things that the student said or did. give evidence that this student stood out to you in some way.

adam.

Thats great thanks adam. but what do you do if the student for whom you are to write a letter of recommentation was really awful!!??

well if the student was really terrible then you shouldn't agree to write the letter for them. just tell them that you base letters on the work they did for the class and remind him or her what she got for the grade in the course and tell them that the letter will reflect that grade.

or just tell them that you aren't comfortable writing it. you shouldn't agree to write a letter of recommendation if you can't actaully recommend the student though. That would be pretty mean and you wouldn't want a professor to do that to you. Anyway, the student may have only been terrible in your class and perhaps he or she can ask another professor or tA who will be able to say nicer things.

oh gosh, but i just feel terrible and don't know how to tell her no.

better than screwing up her chances by writing a bad letter of recommendation!

[gmuser]

Thanx for the advice, I sure need it

[margo]

are graduate students really asked to write letters for undergrads?? That seems strange to me since both are still students.