Recommendation Letters: Choosing Your Referees and Preparing the Request
Published on
Most excellence scholarships ask for one to three recommendation letters. They confirm your qualities through an outside perspective. A detailed letter written by someone who truly knows your work can make the difference between academically similar applications.
Who to ask
- A teacher who has supervised you over several months (project, dissertation, tutorials) and can give specific examples.
- An internship supervisor or a professional manager for scholarships that value experience.
- An association leader if commitment is part of your application.
Prefer the person who knows you best over the one with the most prestigious title: a vague letter signed by a famous name is worth little.
How to word the request
Contact your referees at least six to eight weeks before the deadline. Explain in a few lines why you want to apply, what you expect from their testimony and what the deadline is. Offer to send them a complete file. A polite refusal is better than a rushed letter: give them the chance to say no.
What to give them
- Your CV and your motivation letter.
- A list of points you would like to see mentioned (projects, results, qualities).
- The description of the scholarship and its evaluation criteria.
- The technical instructions: online form, PDF format, address to send it to.
Follow up without pestering
Send a polite reminder a week before the deadline, then the day before if the platform shows that the letter has not been received. Then thank your referees and keep them informed of the outcome: they remain your allies for what comes next.
Special cases
- Some scholarships require the letter to be submitted directly by the referee: check the submission method.
- For a doctorate, a recommendation from a researcher in the field is particularly valued.
- If a letter must be written in English and your referee is not comfortable doing so, offer a translation that they proofread.