Letters of Recommendation

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STEPS TO REQUEST A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

So.....you are headed to work or college post high school.  A letter of recommendation provides someone who DOES NOT KNOW YOU information from someone who DOES know you.  They are great testimonials & references for opportunities you may be applying to. 

 

  • All recommendations are required to be sent through eDocs in Naviance. (few exceptions)
  • Non OSD Recommender?  See Step 5 below. 
  • In your Naviance you must CONFIRM SCHOOLS you are applying to by 
    • moving schools from IM THINKING ABOUT TO >>>>>>  IM APPLYING TO
  • Counselors are AUTOMATICALLY notified as soon as you move your schools to APPLYING TO.

*you do NOT need to request your counselor - just provide them information in ABOUT ME.  

 

 

STEP 1:  HOW MANY?  

Determine what type of recommendation you need (and HOW MANY you will need)

  • Recommendation for a JOB or OPPORTUNITY (summer program, job shadow, internship, etc...)
  • College recommendation - focused on a career, research school or liberal arts
  • Scholarships - you may need to request a PAPER COPY of this recommendation to submit with scholarship applications or have provide a mailing envelope with address & stamp for recommender to mail to scholarship provider.  *not all recommenders will agree to provide letters for scholarships. 

 

STEP 2: WHO

Determine WHO will you request a recommendation from & WHY

 

STEP 3: ASK

ASK the teacher/staff/community member if they have the TIME to WRITE you a letter and if they are willing.  (Be sure you have the CORRECT email) 

 

  • Send via email - drop a quick card/note in their MAILBOX in main office

  • Follow up after you have sent the email to insure delivery 

 

STEP 4: DEADLINE 

MUST provide a recommender at least 2-3 weeks advance notice.

  • Dates may vary depending on the college deadline or employment location

  • Use your first deadline as your guide for all requests.  (earliest we have seen is Nov 1) 

 

STEP 5: SHARE INFORMATION "ABOUT ME"

Gather information about yourself (think of it as a brag book)

Complete the BRAG SHEET SURVEY - For Recommendation Letters in Naviance 

LINK to pre-view: questions 

LINK How to Access Survey 

Provide additional Information: ABOUT ME>MY JOURNAL (Upload Resume, Essays, Personal Statements, Documents & Supportive Materials - teacher, counselor can VIEW.) 

AND/OR Create a SHARED google FOLDER of information to assist them in writing your letter.

 

STEP 6:

If applying to post high school education you must request ALL of your OSD teacher recommendations through Naviance*. 

Naviance>COLLEGES>APPLY TO COLLEGE>LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION>ADD REQUEST 

Be specific about your requests for which schools/programs REQUIRE/RECOMMEND letters. 

DO NOT SELECT ALL! 

  

Your OSD teacher is NOT on the recommender list? 

Let us know, we will add them to the OSD Naviance account.  

 

*NON OSD TEACHER RECOMMENDER?  Follow this linked process

(example: SPSCC Instructor, Teacher from another district)  

 

STEP 7:  REMIND RECOMMENDER by sending a THANK YOU before your deadline. 

Example:  Provide a thank you to your recommender 1 week before your deadline!

*You have now THANKED them & REMINDED them of the deadline. Bonus!! 

 

 

REMINDER & THANK YOU EXAMPLE 

 

Hi Recommender Name,

I just wanted to reach out to you regarding my letter of recommendation (deadline date), I am so excited to apply to __________________ and your letter is ____{insert feeling}_______. I wanted to just reach out to remind you how important this is for me and how important YOU are to me too! 

Was there any additional information you needed from me to write this letter?

 

Thank you for the time you have committed to writing this letter and I appreciate the many things you ____{specifics about them}_________. Especially when ________{this happened}_____ and how you handled ____{this with me}______. I have some really great memories of our time together. As a reminder the letter must be submitted to ______{uploaded into my common app account/emailed to [email protected]/mailed to address, city, state/provided to me in a sealed and signed envelope by deadline date}____.

 

If you need me to forward this request again, please let me know. Sometimes these things may get sent into your spam folder and I am happy to send the request again.

 

Again I am very grateful for your support of my future goals. I will be in touch to let you know if anything about my plan or application has changed. Thank you again! I look forward to sharing my results of this application process!! (I know you will be excited for me too!) GO Bears!!

 

PRINT YOUR NAME & signature

 

UPLOAD your SHARED FOLDER for RECOMMENDERS to your NAVIANCE JOURNAL:

(include, but not limited to the following)

Example: GOOGLE DRIVE SHARED FOLDER 

 

Include Updated Resume: Current, error free with  your achievements, accomplishments & accolades

 

College Essay - provide a link to the document on a google doc

 

Planning Chart: List of schools/programs you plan to apply to 

  

Optional: images, videos, academic work, certificates, evaluations, etc..

 

Questions?  Please reach out to the College & Career Readiness Center or to your COUNSELOR.