How to Develop Powerful Letters of Recommendation for your College Scholarship Applications

It is very common for college scholarship applications to ask for several letters of recommendation. Never skip providing this information as it is the fastest way for your application to land up in the trash rather than in the approval pile. You also don’t want to wait until the last minute to get your hands on these letters of recommendation. You need to be considerate enough to ask people to complete them and to give them time to fit it into their schedule.

When you think about a letter of recommendation, you need to be sure you ask the right people to complete them for you. It is a good idea to ask at least five people to complete them for you. Most of the college scholarship applications will only ask for three but you want to have plenty just in case you need more.

Take the time to ask those you know that can provide a great insight to your character. This can include a boss, co-worker, friend, teacher, or Church member. You should strive to get a variety of them from those you have different relationships with. It will be more powerful if you can get letters of recommendation from different angles than all from people you work with.

When you ask someone to complete a letter of recommendation for you, express why you need one. Most people will be more than willing to do it for you as a way to assist you with your college scholarship applications. If you need them to cover particular aspects of their relationship with you make sure you tell them about those guidelines from the beginning.

It is a very nice addition if you get them a written list of everything they need to cover for you. Deciding on a deadline for them to complete it is also important. Make sure you show appreciation for them going out of their way to help you. One way to do this is to offer to come pick up the letter or recommendation. Then they don’t have the additional errand of getting it to you.

All letters of application should explore how long they have known you, the relationship they have with you, and why they feel you are deserving of such funding for college. Each letter should be closed with their full name and contact information. It is standard for them to be typed and also signed. If the person creating the letter or recommendation for you doesn’t type offer to do it for them from the one they write by hand.

When you get the completed letters of recommendation, make sure you take the time to read over them. There shouldn’t be any typing mistakes or grammar mistakes in them. Should  you find such problems just ask the creator to update them for you. Most will do so without any problem as they realize the value that these letters have for your ability to get money for your education.

Make plenty of copies of them and keep in a safe place. You don’t want to have to ask the creator to make more for you because you failed to keep your hands on the original. It is a very nice gesture to send a nice thank you note to the creator of your letters of recommendation. Make sure you let them know how much you appreciate them taking the time to do so. They also need to realize how important this information is to your desire to get funding for college.