Choose the recommender wisely. Did you do well in the class? Does he/she know you personally? Does this person know your other interests? A list of two dozen activities is NOT helpful – what do you do well?

Give the recommender plenty of time. These are professional people. If they agree to do it, they will put in a lot of time and effort. Ask them three weeks ahead, and tell them you will remind them a week before it is due. If they agree to do one, ask if they will consider doing a second one at a future time. (Most will – having put that much time into it, they want to use it more than once!) Give the recommender all the necessary material: the form, the guideline.

YOU read the entire application – including the recommender’s form – and know what it requires. That is the only way you know if you have given the information to the recommender.

FILL IN THE PART THE STUDENT IS SUPPOSED TO COMPLETE. Sign where you are supposed to sign.

WAIVE YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS. If you have chosen your recommender well, lots of nice things will be said. But if you retain the right to read the recommendation, the Admissions people don’t know if the recommender is being forthright or just avoiding criticism.