Would a letter of recommendation from the President of the United States help your chances of admission to business school?

一封来自美国总统奥巴马的推荐信对你的MBA申请会有帮助吗？

It might seem like a no-brainer to have the leader of the world’s largest economy write on your behalf. This case was the source of much discussion among the team at Fortuna Admissions when a client suggested this option for his MBA applications last year. Surprisingly perhaps, our advice was ‘no..  The applicant has since been admitted to one of the top business schools in the country, and secured a significant scholarship along the way.

Fortuna Admissions去年的一个申请人让世界最大经济体的领导人帮忙写推荐信似乎轻而易举，可不知道这样做是否有帮助。可是老师的建议却使人大跌眼镜！他竟然说：No！

So what was our thinking? Our team includes former directors and associate directors from top schools in the U.S. and Europe, and we remember reviewing applications from candidates who boasted recommendations from Heads of State, Fortune 100 CEOs, 4-star Army Generals, iconic entrepreneurs, and even a rock star.

我们的想法是什么？整个团队力量雄厚，有美国，欧洲顶级商学院的前招生主任和招生副主任。他们曾看到申请人吹嘘他们可以让国家首脑，全球100强企业CEO，四星将军，著名企业家，甚至还有摇滚歌星。

But the golden rule for choosing recommenders is to select the person who knows you best, not the person with the best job title.

但是选择推荐人的黄金法则是挑选最了解你的人，而不是最高头衔的人。

As impressive as letterhead from The White House, the Pentagon or the corner office may look, nine times out of ten the recommendations are short on detail, and even shorter on substance. Many times we assume that the letter was not even written by the person signing at the bottom, who had delegated the task to a deputy chief of staff or an assistant. That is not always the case, of course, and when appropriate the admission team will follow up to check the authenticity of the letter.

信笺抬头印着白宫，五角大楼也许会使人印象深刻，可十分之九的推荐信都很短，缺乏细节信息。许多次我们都相信有些信并非出自签字人之手，他只是把这个任务交给助理或秘书来处理。适当的时候，招生官员会出面确定推荐信的真实性。

A TELEPHONE CALL TO CHECK THE AUTHENTICITY OF A LETTER FROM A U.S. GENERAL

Our colleague Pete Johnson, the former executive director of admissions at UC-Berkeley Haas, recounts a time when he received an impressive recommendation from a highly ranked officer and called the telephone number at the bottom of the page to see if the letter had indeed been written by that person. “Oh, yes,” explained the person on the other end of the phone, “the General always writes the recommendation himself, and takes the whole process very seriously.”

我们的同事，前哈斯商学院招生主任Pete Johnson讲述有一次他收到一封高层领导的推荐信，然后他按照页面下方的电话号码打过去确认他是否写了那封推荐信。电话那头的人向他解释道，将军一直都会亲自帮人写推荐信，而且重视整个过程。

Pete adds that this particular applicant was subsequently admitted to the program.

Pete最后又补充，那个申请人随后被MBA项目录取。

With Stanford GSB modifying it’s admissions requirements for the coming year and reducing the number of recommendations from three to two, now all the world’s top business schoolS expect you to identify two individuals to write on your behalf.

从斯坦福商学院今年将推荐信减少为2封开始，现在世界顶级商学院都开始让申请人提交两封推荐信。

The best letters bring the applicant to life in the eyes of the admissions committee, and are filled with specific details and action examples rather than adjectives and glowing general praise. A recommender won’t be judged on their command of English, but their letter will provide insight into your professional performance, and the impact you have had in the organization.

一封好的推荐信可以让申请人的整体形象大大加分。好的标准是什么呢？就是推荐信内容有具体的细节，行动的例子而不是简单用形容词来概括赞美一个人的优点。不要求推荐人他们的英语水平多么流利，但推荐信最好包括对申请人工作表现的看法，申请人在整个团队里面的影响。