Studying Abroad

Discover the states

Getting a letter of recommendation for your college application

Fri 15 Jun 2018

A letter of recommendation is an important part of your college application package. You need to take as much care of getting a good letter of recommendation as you do getting good grades or test scores. The letter of recommendation is a way to highlight some of your other qualities that may not necessarily come through in your academic record. ONCAMPUS can help you with our one-on-one personal advice, to make sure you get the best letter of recommendation for your college application.

What is a letter of recommendation? 

A letter of recommendation is a letter written by someone outlining your personality, skills, achievements, and more. It is an important tool to give insight into who you are, beyond your grades and test scores. There are several types of letters of recommendation and usually the college you are applying to will tell you what type they want and how many – this can range from one to three letters of recommendation.

Most colleges will probably require one academic letter of recommendation. This letter of recommendation needs to be written by someone who can provide insight into your academic abilities, accomplishments, and potential. This could be a teacher, a guidance counselor or a tutor. Additionally, colleges may ask for a personal letter of recommendation. This needs to be written by someone who knows you outside the academic setting, someone who can provide insights into your personality, experiences, abilities, background, and potential. This could be a family friend, sports coach, instructor or someone you worked for as an intern. As a rule of thumb, make sure you give the person you are asking to write a letter of recommendation plenty of time to write it.

Benefits of having a good letter of recommendation

A good letter of recommendation can make the difference between acceptance and rejection. In fact, if your grades or test scores are borderline, then a good letter of recommendation can in some cases put you over the top. This is because a letter of recommendation is an opportunity for you to showcase your talents and abilities beyond your academics. Therefore, the content of a letter of recommendation is important and you may want to sit down with the person writing the recommendation and talk to them about what you would like to have highlighted in the letter. If the college you are applying to is asking for more than one letter of recommendation, then make sure that the letters of recommendation highlight different qualities and talents you have. Although the content of the letter of recommendation is important, so is the writer of your letter. The college will look at who is willing to speak on your behalf.

How we help you with a letter of recommendation

ONCAMPUS will give you step-by-step support throughout your time with us. You will take part in one-on-one academic advisory and progression meetings during your two semesters. This allows us to get to know you at a personal level, know all your qualities and talents and write the best letter of recommendation for you. ONCAMPUS will help you meet the various college admissions requirements, so that you can achieve your college dreams. 


<< View all news
Next up:

Close

There was a problem loading the video, please try again later.