Rec letter recs?

[drwex]

One of my minions has asked for a recommendation letter for their grad school application. I'm looking for guidelines and advice on how to write a good letter - what should go in, what length am I aiming for, etc.

If you've written these things, do you have examples you can share? If you've asked for them, were there things that you thought were good/bad in the letters you got?

Comments

[chienne-folle.livejournal.com]

It's been such a long time since I had to do this that I'll just point you at this instead. (Yes, of course you could have found that on your own. I wanted to be helpful, realized that my knowledge wasn't exactly current, and am leaving you a placebo to assuage my desire to be helpful. ;-D)

[c1.livejournal.com]

If you've asked for them, were there things that you thought were good/bad in the letters you got?

Hands down, the best letter written on my behalf was dripping with enthusiasm and quantifiable veracity*. I was quite literally moved almost to the point of tears, because my professor wrote of specific things I did and how those actions made a positive impact; in short, there was not even a hint of a question left in my mind as to whether or not a. he noticed, or b. cared.

I'd keep it to a page. Whomever is reading it has a lot of things on their plate.

*I described it as such so as to differentiate from mere hyperbole. "He did a, which resulted in b." Specific, measurable, articulable.

[fenicedautun.livejournal.com]

This may be completely inapplicable, but I know when I was getting rec letters (and I've seen this in other recommendations), I chose a spread of writers to reflect different aspects of me and my qualifications. So you may want to ask if your minion has anything specific in mind they were hoping you would address.