How to Ask a Professor for a Recommendation Letter

There are many reasons why you may need a recommendation letter from a favorite professor or teacher at some point in your life. Some employers require them, and many selective graduate and masters programs will also require a sterling recommendation letter. A professor's recommendation is also useful when applying to prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs.

Here's how to go about getting your recommendation letter. First of all, give the professor plenty of notice. Don't ask them the night before the due date to write you a letter-you will annoy them and if you get anything at all from them it will be a hasty and incomplete recommendation.

A truly great recommendation letter can take a while to draft and perfect. Therefore, give the professor at least a month's warning if possible-and then remind them one to two weeks before the deadline.

If the employer or graduate program requests a sealed recommendation (as in, one you are not allowed to view), make sure you provide the appropriate address to your professor. Out of courtesy, you may want to provide him or her with a stamped envelope that already has the correct mailing address written on it.

When selecting a professor who may be a good person to approach, you should consider the following:

You want the professor to know who you are - Choose someone whose class you enjoyed, and a class that you participated in frequently. If the professor cannot remember your first name, he may not be the best bet for a recommendation letter.

You want him to have good things to say - Choose a professor who has seen you at your finest, either academically or otherwise. Don't ask for a recommendation letter from a professor who gave you a C or a D in his class-he may have less than amazing things to say about you.

Finally, a week or two after the recommendation letter has been sent out, it is good policy to send the professor a nice thank you email or thank you card. This is especially useful if you ever have to ask the professor for a second recommendation letter in the future-he will be quick to do so if he knows how much you appreciated the previous help.

Also, provide as much information for your professor as possible. If you are entering a political studies graduate program, for example, let him know this so that he can focus on your skills as a political thinker or potential future leader.