Five Critical Steps in Asking for an Excellent LOR

When you apply to an MBA program, you need the support of everyone around you. You need the support of your colleagues and ideally, you should have the support of a manager or previous supervisor .

As such, the Letter of Recommendation, or LOR, is one of the most crucial aspects of your MBA application. Like we have written about before, not all LORs are created equal. Today, we are covering five steps which will help you get an excellent LOR.

1. Ask Early

You think you’re busy? You might be right, but the person writing your LOR for you is busy, too. In fact, there’s an excellent chance that the person writing your LOR for you is busier than you are.

As a matter of respect, ask the person writing your LOR for you as early as possible in the game if they’d be willing to write an LOR for you. Ask them well before the application is even available online, just to confirm that they’re willing to write your LOR.

The worst, and most disrespectful thing you can do when requesting an LOR is to wait until the very last minute and put pressure on the person writing the letter for you to finish it quickly. Respect that they have other priorities so that they can write an excellent letter for you.

2. Give the Writer Everything The Need

No matter how well the person writing your LOR knows you, you absolutely need to give them everything they need to write an excellent LOR for you in written form. This means you should give them a small package of all of the information that they need about your academic and professional careers. This could include your University transcript, your CV, and an outline for each letter of recommendation question reminding them of your key attributes and accomplishments at work.

You never want the person writing your LOR to have to waste time coming back to you for information you should have given them the first time around. Help them to help you by ensuring they have everything they need.

3. Ask for an “excellent” LOR

It’s important to be very specific when you ask for your LOR. Sometimes a person will agree to write an LOR for you, but wouldn’t necessarily agree to write an excellent LOR for you. You should ask them a question like “Are you available to write me an excellent LOR?” Even though it sounds a little bit awkward, it’s important to make sure the person you ask can meet your expectations so you aren’t disappointed down the road.

4. Offer to Help Write the LOR

Use this strategy with caution. When the person you are asking to write an LOR is extremely busy, it is sometimes helpful to volunteer to help write the LOR for them, and then have them review & sign off on it. If you are dealing with a major CEO or a serial entrepreneur, or the most distinguished professor of business at National Taiwan University, you might consider this strategy.

5. Write a Thank You Note & Follow Up

After the person you’ve asked has written your LOR, it is important to write them a thank you note. This is just common sense and good manners, but many people fail to execute this step. A handwritten thank you note is an extremely warm gesture which will make your LOR writer feel genuinely appreciated. Be sure to let anyone who wrote an LOR for you know whether you made it into a school or not to keep them updated on your progress.

Once again, the five things steps in asking for an excellent LOR are to 1) ask as early as possible, 2) to give the writer all of your personal information in written form, 3) to ask specifically for an excellent LOR, 4) to offer to help write the LOR if the person is extraordinarily busy, and 5) the most important step: write a thank you note and follow up with the person who wrote an LOR for you.

I have helped many students set a successful strategy for their MBA applications. If you have any additional questions about LORs, or about the other stages in applying for MBA & Graduate programs abroad, get in touch with me, David, at transcendadmissions@gmail.com.