Want Help With Your Applications to Grad School? I Wish You Had Come Sooner

Posted on August 17th, 2017 by Dave G. Mumby, Ph.D. An old Chinese proverb says, “The best time to plant …

Most letters of recommendation are never read!

I do the same thing when I’m speaking to a group of students about preparing for graduate-school applications. One of my favorites comes up when discussing how letters of recommendation are used in the evaluation of grad-school applicants. I like to point out that these letters are often the most influential part of a successful application. No controversy there. But, then, I tell them that most letters of recommendation are never actually read!

Letters of Recommendation for Grad School: Beware the Bad Letter-Writer

Today’s blog post is about just one of the fatal flaws that can afflict an application to graduate school, but this is a particularly harsh one for students whose applications end up being rejected only because of this particular weakness. It’s a harsh one, I think, because this flaw is not the product of anything the applicant actually does, or fails to do. Instead, when this particular problem shows up, it’s more accurate to describe the applicant as an unfortunate victim.