College Knowledge for the Jewish Student: 101 Tips

9. Mazel Tov! Looking beyond the First Year

210 9 Mazel Tov! Looking beyond the first Year 92 Identify Faculty Who Will Write Recommendation Letters for You Every job, internship, and graduate school will ask you to provide references. After you’re in college, it will no longer be good enough to get a letter from your favorite high school teacher, the manager of the store in your local shopping mall where you worked, your rabbi, or a friend of the family who has seen you grow up and flourish. Faculty members (and graduate student instructors) at your college will be the most important source of recommendation letters for you during your college years and beyond. You will find that you need these letters as early as your first and second years of college. If you are looking for a summer internship, a research assistantship, acceptance to a study abroad program, or a job in the library, you will be asked to provide a letter from a faculty member on your campus. Later, when you apply to graduate school or a professional school program, it is critical that you can turn to at least two or three faculty members who will write outstanding letters on your behalf. Mazel Tov! Looking beyond the first Year 211 Most faculty will be more than willing to write one or even multiple letters for you, but only if you have developed a relationship with them or have caught their attention through your comments in class discussion, by writing an exceptional paper, or by visiting office hours. A small number of very special faculty, usually those who have been so impressed with you that they are willing to serve as your champions, will go out of their way and initiate calls and contacts on your behalf. They will keep you in mind when they hear of scholarship opportunities , summer internships, special study programs, and research assistantships. They will make it their business to be sure you get into the best graduate programs. Some faculty will be willing to write letters but will not be reliable about deadlines. You need to keep tabs on whether the letters you have requested have been submitted in a timely manner. If you can’t depend on a faculty member to write a letter for you on time, then you are better off finding a replacement. When you do ask for a letter, you want to make the process as easy as possible for the faculty member. If you like this professor so much that you are asking for a reference letter, it’s likely that many other students are as well, and your letter is just one of several that the professor is writing. Tell your professor what jobs, programs, or graduate schools you are applying to and give him or her a copy of your resume, a statement of purpose if available, any forms that need to be filled out (usually you will have to complete part of the forms), a short written reminder about the purpose of the letter, and the due date. If it’s possible to send the letter via email or through a website, ask your professor if he or she would prefer to send a letter this way or by snail mail. If the latter, include a stamped, addressed envelope for the professor to use. Let your professor know the eventual outcome of your applications—he or she will be interested to hear. COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE fOr THE JEWiSH STuDENT 212 The key to asking for reference letters is to know faculty well enough that you can approach them. Your first task in securing references as a first-year student is building your relationships with faculty. After you’ve done that, don’t be shy about asking for letters. Faculty will be pleased and honored that you have asked and will be eager to learn that you have succeeded in your job search or pursuit of advanced graduate and professional degrees. 93 Explore Possible Majors Sometime during the sophomore year (or sooner), most colleges will ask you to declare your major or concentration. Some students come into college very certain about what they want to study. Most, however, come to college wanting to explore a wide range of subject areas and topics and are undecided about a major. Students who have already decided their field of study prior to coming to college may have applied and enrolled in schools such...