Advising and Letters of Recommendation - DRAFT

Thank you for supporting your students and the larger
fellowship process within Yale College.

TOC:

Advising Students on Fellowships

Note: This recorded webinar offers faculty and staff an overview of Office of Fellowships, available fellowship competitions, and the many resources we provide to students seeking funding for research, study, independent projects, internships, and more.

Fellowships for research or graduate school

Students applying for research opportunities and graduate school programs benefit greatly from the guidance of a mentor with expertise in their field of study. By sharing their experience and insight, mentors are able to help students craft competitive applications and plan for their futures.

When advising students pursuing research and graduate school opportunities, consider both the practical and long-term aspects of the experience. Practical considerations include methodology, skills, and the general structure of the proposed project. Long-term considerations relate to the student's academic and professional goals.

The fellowships process at Yale 

The Office of Fellowships supports students applying to Yale fellowships and external funding opportunities. Funding is available for a wide range of activities. Each fellowship application has its own requirements and timeline.  

The Yale Student Grants Database is a searcheable database of all internal (Yale) and select external (non-Yale) fellowship opportunities. It is the best place for students to begin their fellowship search.

Certain external competitions, including Rhodes, Marshall, Goldwater, and Fulbright, require a University nomination and are overseen by the Office of Fellowships. A curated list of those fellowships is available here.

Note: We're here to support the work you do. The Office of Fellowships offers information sessions, workshops, individual advising appointments, and other resources for students interested in applying for fellowships.

Writing Letters of Recommendation

Preparation:

Before you start writing, have a conversation with the student to make sure you are clear on:

• The name the student would like you to use in the letter
• The pronouns the student would like you to use in the letter
• How the student would like to present themselves in the application, including the narrative of their application, themes they touch upon, and aspects of their personal and professional identity
• The student's motivations for applying to this opportunity and what they hope to accomplish
• Why the student thinks you would be a good fit for this role - what are the experiences, work, acheivements, and strengths you have witnessed that the student hopes you will highlight in the letter?

What Helps

1. Provide specific information about the applicant based on first-hand knowledge, such as:
   • Concrete examples of exceptional work.
   • The merits of the proposed project in relation to the opportunity and the field as a whole.
   • Examples of how the fellowship would positively impact the student's short- or long-term goals and overall educational and professional trajectory.
   • Contextual framing of the student's ability. Quantitative remarks and percentages are useful, such as, "Top 5% of students in my 20 years of teaching."
2. Draw on the remarks of colleagues for supporting evidence or the acknowledgement of specific strengths. Letters from professors may also draw on comments from teaching assistants who may have worked more closely with the applicant.
3. Ask the student requesting the letter of recommendation to send you their current resume, details about the fellowship, and their application materials (if they are allowed to share them).
4. Be aware of bias in letter writing.*
5. Be honest with yourself. Consider whether you know the student well enough and can dedicate the time and energy to writing a personalised and detailed letter. If not, say no (see below.)

*Avoiding Racial Bias in Letter of Reference Writing

*Avoiding Gender Bias in Letter of Reference Writing

Tip: Think about how your letter of recommendation might help shape an interview with the fellowship committee.

What Hurts

On the whole, the following are not helpful: 

1. Letters that consist largely of unsupported praise and fail to provide specific examples of points mentioned
2. Generic letters sent without regard to the specific fellowship, course of study, or proposed project
3. Letters that may be read as implying criticism (beware of backhanded compliments) or whose criticisms might be taken to indicate stronger reservations than stated. Letters should be honest - and honest criticism, if generously presented, can enhance the force of a letter - but committees take critical comments very seriously

When to Say "No"

There may be times when declining to write a letter is the best thing to do, such as:

1. If the student asks too close to the deadline or approaches you in a highly unprofessional manner. We advise students to ask for letters no less than three weeks in advance of a deadline.
2. If you feel that you cannot be emphatically positive in support of a student.
3. If you do not have a clear recollection of the student.
4. If you do not have the time to write a good letter or if you think that you are not the best person to write a letter. 

Tip: Guiding the student through considering alternative letter writers is more helpful than agreeing to write a letter if you are not the best person to do so.

Other Considerations

1. If you are called upon to write letters for two or more applicants for the same fellowship, beware of using too much of the same language in each, especially if they will be read by the same committee. If you have questions about whether your students are applying through the same region for external fellowships, please contact the Office of Fellowships (fellowships@yale.edu or 203-432-8685).
2. Although we encourage students to provide their recommenders with helpful, detailed information, it is not ethical to request that students provide drafts of their own letters. Faculty should also beware of leaning too heavily on material provided by students, since students give much the same information to each recommender and following this too closely can lead to letters that sound too similar.
3. If you have written a letter in collaboration with another faculty member, be mindful about how you and your colleague use subsequent versions of that letter. We want to avoid situations in which a student is represented by different letters with largely identical language from two different faculty members.

Note: Lost your copy of a letter you wrote? If it was submitted through our office and we still have it on file, we'll gladly send it to you upon your request.