Check on your recommendations

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays last week! Now it’s time to get back to work on your application.

Today is also the perfect day to check in with your recommenders. Drop by their offices, or call or send a nice email, inquiring about their holiday. Remind them of your due dates. Ask them if they have any questions about your application (you did give them a copy of your essay drafts, didn’t you? If not, now is a good time to do so). Offer to take them to lunch to discuss your goals. If they answer “yes,” they’ve submitted them, follow-up tomorrow with a gift such as a bottle of wine or a gift card.

If a recommender starts to back-peddle, expressing concern that they don’t have time, you may want to ask someone else. A rushed recommendation is not going to help your application. It may actually hurt it. A brief or flat recommendation says to Admissions that this person does not care enough about your career to help you or that you are not important enough to their organization.

Whatever you do, do not offer or agree to write the recommendation letter for them. This strategy can backfire in several ways. First, Admissions can usually tell by a similar writing style to the rest of your application. I’ve also seen cases where both recommendations came in with similar or exact wording. I once had a case where the recommender didn’t delete the candidate's suggested verbiage from him. Admissions can tell and you can get dinged for it. Find someone who has the time and desire to write you an outstanding recommendation.

For more insight about Admissions visit www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com