1.Review a copy of the applicant's personal statement or application essays so that your letter of recommendation can dovetail with--not conflict with or duplicate--the rest of the application.

好好阅读申请人的personal statement以及application essays，确保你的推荐信中的内容和申请人的personal statement以及application essays中的内容并没有重复或者冲突。

 

2.Ask the applicant to supply you with additional information like a resume.

要求申请人给你提供一份附加信息，例如resume。

 

3.Describe your qualifications for comparing the applicant to other applicants.

为了使你的申请人同其他申请人比较的时候更显优势，请仔细描述你的资历。

I have been teaching for twenty years and have advised approximately 450 students on independent research projects over the last five years.

I have personally supervised ten interns every summer for the last five years plus worked with over two hundred college graduates in my capacity as trainer for Big Bank Corp.

 

4.Discuss how well you know the applicant.

仔细讨论下你是怎样对申请人达到很深的了解的。

I was able to get to know Mr. Doe because he made it a point to attend two of my sections every week when only one was required.

Ms. Smith reported directly to me for two years prior to her well-deserved promotion to the position of Senior in our Big Six Accounting Firm.

5.Choose two to three qualities that you observed in the applicant.

选择两三个你所观察出的，申请人所具有的品质。

Jane has a rare blend of top writing and interpersonal skills.

The combination of tenacity, analytical abilities, and good communications skills found in Mr. Doe is truly unique.

 

6.In discussing those qualities, support your statements with specific instances in which he or she demonstrated those attributes. Be as concrete and detailed as possible.

在讨论申请人所具有的品质时，用细节性的实例去支持你的观点，哪样的实例展示TA所具有的品质，越仔细越好。

He is the only student I ever had who came to all my office hours as part of a relentless, and ultimately successful, drive to master financial theory. He was one of just ten percent in the class to receive an A.

Because of Jane's writing skills, I didn't hesitate to ask her to write a report which was used by our PAC as the basis for a major policy statement. Congressman X eventually used the statement, based on Jane's sophisticated 20-page analysis of Middle East politics, in lobbying for increased funding.

 

7.Try to quantify the student's strengths or rank him or her vis-a-vis other applicants that you have observed.

尝试着量化你的申请人的能力。可以通过和其他人的对比得出。

He was in the top 10% of his class.

She has the best analytical skills of any person her age that I have ever supervised.

 

8.Avoid generalities and platitudes.

避免大话和空话。

 

9.Include some mild criticism, typically the flip-side of a strength.

文中应该包括一些小小的批评，可以作为另一方面优点的典型展示。

The only fault I have encountered in him is his retiring nature. His modesty sometimes hides a young man of remarkable strength and broad interests.

Occasionally, her fortitude and persistence can turn into stubbornness, but usually her good nature and level-headedness prevail.

 

10.Discuss the applicant's potential in his or her chosen field.

谈论申请人在他所处职业领域的发展潜质。

I enthusiastically recommend Mr. Doe to your business school. This well-rounded student will be a fine businessperson.

With her exceptional leadership, writing, and quantitative skills, Ms. Smith will be an outstanding strategic consultant and a credit to the business school she attends.