Bocconi Home

FABRIZIO IOZZI

Asking for a reference letter

I personally think writing reference letter is more or less part of my job but due to the increasing number of requests I'm forced to restrict it to students who graduated with me, or who spent some time in my department for some job I was involved with, etc. Unless there’s some real obstacle, I’ll answer yes to your request. To help me fulfilling your request, when you ask for a letter the best thing to do would be to provide some information about yourself:

• a copy of your current transcript.
• a CV
• a draft of any statement of interest or research proposal that will be included in your application;
• any forms that I’ll need to fill out.
• your personal contact details;

These will help me in figuring out who you are and your potentials (keep in mind that typically I just exchanged a few words with you and most of the times about theorems and problems …)

Regarding the universitiy/institution/course you are applying for, I'll need:

• precise info about the way the reference letter has to be sent. More and more universities are managing the process via the Web: in this case you just tell them my email address. Other universities want me to send them the letter via email: in this case provide the email address to sent the letter to. For those who need paper letter, please provide the complete address and, if needed, any additional requirement (some universities have strict rules about the way the reference letter has to be written, signed on the back, on letterhead, etc.). If the university offers more than one option, I'd rather go for the web or email. Be sure to read through the documentation and, if you are not sure, ask the host university about their policies before coming to me.
• precise info about the type of program you’re applying for. For example, avoid a generic “I’m applying for a Summer School in the US”, but use “I’m applying for a Graduate Summer School in Sustainable Economics at Harvard”, and if possible, provide web addresses for the info pages about it.
• the deadline for the letter.

The best way to discuss the thing would be for you to come to my office hours. If you can’t for a good reason (e.g. you are abroad for an exchange program) we can manage the thing via email.

A few final remarks.

I’m a mathematics lecturer. When you ask me a reference letter and you are not applying for a mathematics course, I guess it is because you feel more comfortable asking me instead of someone else. I’m happy to help you in this but, from the host university point of view, a recommendation letter coming from a professor in the relevant area would be more effective. So, if this is the case, please consider asking someone else before.

We (professors and students) are all busy but you are the first to know your deadlines for the application. Thus, ask for the letter early enough no to put me in a hurry. Moreover, keep in mind that our schedules are different. When you are busy studying for exams we may be involved in conferences, meetings, and in extreme cases we can’t regularly check our email.

Finally, I'll appreciate if you let me know whether the application has been successful. Besides being a kind thing to do, it also helps me better understand the whole process and, if needed, make some adjustment to be more effective in the future.

 

Modificato il 12/11/2017