What Makes a Letter of Recommendation Actually Help

A teacher who agrees to write a letter almost always means well. The problem is rarely willingness — it is specificity. A letter that says a student is "hardworking and sincere" could describe half the class.

We work with students, well before the letter is due, to give their recommenders concrete material to work with: a real classroom moment, a specific piece of work, a particular way the student thinks. The best letters read like they could only have been written about one person. That does not happen by accident.