5 Things To Know When Asking for A Letter of Recommendation

A Letter of Recommendation is an essential aspect of any college, graduate school, or scholarship application. It gives your application an additional boost when another person within the field can vouch for you, your character, and your work ethic. Knowing exactly how to approach asking for one, knowing who to ask, and what information you should provide is crucial. Sometimes it can be a bit stressful to think about, so here are the top 5 things to know when asking for a letter of recommendation.

1. Know how many letters of recommendation you need

A LOR is an important and often mandatory aspect of any application and it is not uncommon for programs to require 1-4. Knowing how many and who they must come from is essential. A program could request 3 letters of recommendation and require 2 from separate PTs and 1 from a professor or former employer, or any other combination.

2. Know how to ask for a letter of recommendation

There are a multitude of ways to ask for a LOR. You can ask in person, over the phone, or through email. I personally think that this could change depending on the importance of the letter you need. An email works in a pinch when time or geographical constraints are at play. A phone call is a great way to request one, but can be awkward at times especially when asking a professor or boss. Asking in person is a great way to both catch up with the recommender to jog their memory, as well as convey the importance of the task you are asking of them.

Here is a great resource that helped me a lot when formating my emails

3. Know who you want to ask

You want your letter of recommendation to be professional and adequately represent you as a student and a future professional. This means that you want to avoid conflicts of interest, such as letters from family members and/or friends. You also want to avoid requesting letters from people that cannot talk about you in a detailed manner. LOR that are made from a template are often obvious and lack individuality. You want a recommender that knows you, your goals/aspirations, and what are your best qualities. This is why it is important to make connections early in your school career and/or during observations.

People typically asked to write letters of recommendation:

1. Physical Therapists/Other Healthcare Providers
2. Professors
3. Employers
4. Organization Leaders
5. Mentors/Coaches

4. Provide recommenders with a “brag sheet”

A “brag sheet”, is essentially a resume with every significant thing you’ve done both in and out of school. I would recommend sending one to every person asked to write a LOR. It adds more of a personal touch to a letter when they can speak about your grades, extracurriculars, and interests outside of school. This is essential if you have chosen a recommender that might not know you as well as you wish and might need a little more information.

Things typically found on a “brag sheet”:

1. GPA and important classes taken
2. Extracurriculars/organizations/volunteer work/leadership positions/observation experiences
3. Previous Jobs
4. Program/Scholarship mission and values
5. Any ideas or personal values you wish for them to convey in the letter

5. Provide recommenders with a clear and early deadline

You do not want to be in position where your application is ready to go, but you are still waiting on a letter of recommendation. Or worse, the deadline is coming up and you haven’t heard anything from your recommender. To avoid this, I would advise you to provide a clear deadline in the initial request, that way the recommender can decide if they have enough time to write strong letter. I would also recommend making the deadline a month before you plan to apply (not just a month before the application is due).

Those are 5 things to know when asking for a letter of recommendation! I hope you find these tips helpful and use them during your application journey, I would love to hear your thoughts down below! Tackling PT applications can be daunting, especially when navigating PTCAS, for more information about PTCAS, check out my first post in this series: A Pre-PT’s Guide to PTCAS: Personal Information Section!

Let me know your thoughts about this list and good luck to everyone applying!