In the course of the dozens of Free Consultation sessions that we do each year we are often asked about letter of recommendation strategies. One common question is: “Are alumni the most valuable recommenders?”
What should a recommendation letter entail?
Letters will either be academic or professional. Academic letters are from professors or teachers that you have studied with as part of some sort of coursework or project. Such letters should discuss your intellectual aptitude in that course or project. Professional letters are from people that supervised or closely observed you in a work context. Such letters should discuss your ability to handle the required work tasks and the abilities you demonstrated during the job.
How do you identify a strong recommender?
When an applicant inquires about how to best identify a professor to be their recommender, we start by asking about their relationship. We want to know what class the professor taught, what they accomplished in terms of a grade or research output, and if there was an additional working relationship such as a teaching assistantship, lab membership, or other mentorship. Sometimes the reply will sound like this: “I never took a class from that professor, she is in another department but I met her a few times before and she is an alumna of the school I want to apply for. So is that professor a good choice?”
The first key point here is to remind the applicant that the letter must be based on direct observation. In other words, the recommender should have been the person responsible for reviewing or grading your assignments and assessing your classroom performance, such as answering oral or written questions or delivering a presentation. Think about it like this, if you were going to hire an interior designer to devise a concept for your new house, would you want a recommendation from their personal friend that told you what a great person they are or someone that could discuss their previous building projects?
The key takeaway here is that the admissions officers at top universities are not interested in who you know, but in what you know. Of course, if a professor can speak to your outstanding learning aptitude in class AND is an alumnus of the program, that is wonderful. That being said, if you are lucky enough to have a supportive recommender that is also an alumnus of that school, how big will the advantage be? This is hard to quantify. For starters, it would be most helpful if they were an alumnus of the same program or department you are applying for. Why should the business department heavily weigh the opinions of an alumnus of the mechanical engineering program? This direct alignment also implies that your recommender is able to give you valuable insights about the program experience, values, curriculum, and more.
If the recommender intimately knows your abilities and graduated from the same program, how much will that matter? Again, it depends. How influential and well-known that person is would be an important factor. However, having an influential alumnus on your side is no guarantee of admission. When we chat with admissions officers, many confide in us with no small amount of pride that they often reject candidates supported by influential (and often pushy) alumni.
The focus is on you – your skills, potential, and accomplishments.
This brings us to the *key point* of this post, which is that the recommendation letter, and ultimately the success of your application, is about who you are and what you have done, not who the recommender is. This may be disappointing for those of you that have the support of a renowned alumnus. However, this is a net positive for most people, as it is unlikely that you have an alumni recommendation for every school/program you are applying for. Don’t lose sight of the fact that a recommendation is still focused on you and your accomplishments, just like the other elements in your application.
Upon hearing this information, the follow-up inquiry is whether the significant effort needed to engage with alumni is worthwhile. The answer is a resounding yes! Graduate programs put great emphasis on fit for the program and which applicants will make the best use of their scarce resources. Having intimate knowledge of the program can convince the admissions officers that you have the drive to succeed in the program. That is why we strongly encourage applicants to connect with alumni and offer to connect them with our previous clients.
Finally, while an alumnus that does not have a direct working or academic relationship with you should not be one of your official recommenders (most programs require two), if they really wish to support you, they can feel free to directly contact the school via unofficial channels. Some business schools, such as Duke Fuqua and London Business School, encourage this and even have special alumni and current student recommendation systems.
Conclusion
Recommendation letters are one of several important touch points that can be confusing for applicants. To learn more about how we advise applicants on their strategies and ask a couple of questions related to your own study and career plans, schedule a FREE 20-minute consultation today.