letters of recommendation
TagHave Any Philosophy Departments Stopped Considering Letters of Recommendation?
A philosophy professor writes that his department is entertaining the possibility of not requiring letters of recommendation from those applying to its graduate program, and asks whether other departments have stopped requiring them, too, either of MA or PhD program applicants, or of job candidates. (more…)
Writing Letters for Applicants to Philosophy Graduate Programs
One of your undergraduate students tells you they’re applying to graduate programs in philosophy. They ask you to write a letter of recommendation. So you have the talk with them. Afterwards, they still want to apply, and they’re good, so you agree. What should go in that letter? (more…)
Student Discouraged by Sectarian and Defeatist Professors
A recent college graduate who finished near the top of his class wrote to me last year to share a problem he was having with the professors in the small philosophy department at the college he attended: disagreement over which graduate programs in philosophy to apply to. (more…)
Vetting Letters of Recommendation
The American Philosophical Association (APA) recommends that the letters of recommendation in a job candidate’s dossier be reviewed by the candidate’s placement director. Specifically, in its “Guidance for Placing Departments,” the APA states: (more…)
How to Ask Your Profs for Letters of Recommendation (guest post by Kathryn Norlock)
The following is a guest post* by Kathryn J. Norlock, who holds the Kenneth Mark Drain Chair in Ethics at Trent University, advising undergraduates applying to graduate school, professional schools, and jobs about how to ask their professors for letters of recommendation. It contains advice worth circulating widely. (The post originally appeared at her website.)Â
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Against Letters of Recommendation for Academic Jobs (updated)
“The practice of soliciting letters of recommendation for academic positions is both foolish and immoral.” (more…)
Hiring Departments: Try This New Free Recommendations Service
MARGY (Managing Academic Recommendations Gratis Yay), the free service for emailing confidential letters of recommendation developed by philosophers David Faraci (Georgetown) and Graham Leach-Krouse (Kansas State), previously reported on here, is entering its second phase of beta testing. The team is inviting hiring departments to participate in the testing, and inv..
About Letters of Recommendation
Consider this a space for the discussion of various issues related to letters of recommendations. Here are three: (more…)
Philosophers Develop Free Recommendation Letters Service
Philosophers David Faraci (Georgetown) and Graham Leach-Krouse (Kansas State) have developed a new automated, secure, and free system for emailing confidential letters of recommendation. It’s called MARGY (Managing Academic Recommendations Gratis Yay). (more…)
Tips for Writing Letters for Applicants to Grad Programs
The recent spate of posts on letters of recommendation (students writing for profs, things best left out of the letters, and being asked to write your own letter) prompted a reader to send in another query about them—one we arguably ought to have started the week with:
Many of us teach philosophy at an institution without a graduate program. So while we write ..
Being Asked To Write Your Own Recommendation
Yes, this is “letters of recommendation” week at Daily Nous. On Monday, there was an inquiry from a student about how to write letters in support of faculty. Yesterday, we began a discussion of what not to include in letters of recommendation. Today, we turn to the egregious practice of recommenders asking recommendees to write their own letters of recommendation, w..
What NOT to Say in Your Letters of Recommendation
Sometimes one comes across a letter of recommendation in which the author, presumably with good intentions, nonetheless says something that is bizarre, inappropriate, counterproductive, or downright creepy. In the interests of grad school applicants, job seekers, tenure candidates, etc., as well as those writing letters for them, I am opening up a thread here for ex..
On Students Writing Letters for Faculty
A graduate student in philosophy writes in with the following query:
I’m a philosophy PhD student and avid reader of Daily Nous. I particularly enjoy reading the posts that provide advice for graduate students, and I was wondering if you had considered having a post on how to write letters of support for your supervisors and/or faculty members? It’s something tha..
Late Letters of Recommendation
A philosopher currently on the job market writes in with a query:
The philosophers who are writing my letters of recommendation are incredibly overworked. They send in recommendation letters sometimes a week after the deadline. Is this the norm? Due search committees overlook this aspect of the application?Â
My sense is that slightly late letters tend to not ..