Hi [Student Name],
I'd be happy to write you a letter of recommendation. I've seen real growth from you this year, and I have plenty to write about.
To make sure I do it justice, could you send me the following?
• The deadline(s) and submission details
• A list of programs/schools/opportunities you're applying to
• A brief description of why you're excited about each
• A copy of your resume or activity list
• Anything specific you'd like me to highlight
The more detail you give me, the better I can personalize the letter.
Congratulations on taking this step. I'm rooting for you!
Best,
[Your Name]
Replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details before sending. Save your finished version somewhere easy to find so you can reuse it next year.
How to use this email
When to send it
Within two or three days of being asked, whichever way you are answering. A student who hears nothing assumes yes and stops asking other teachers, and the person that costs is them.
Answer the harder question before you answer the email: whether you should write this one at all. A lukewarm letter does more damage than no letter, and the people reading them know exactly what "was a pleasant presence in my class" means. If you cannot write something specific and genuinely warm, say no now, while they still have time.
What to change before you send
- If the answer is no, say so in the first sentence, and make the reason about you. "I don't think I'm the right person for this one, I only had you for a semester and you deserve someone who can speak to more of you" is kind and it is true. Do not stall, and do not say yes and then write something flat.
- Set your own deadline, well before theirs. Ask for everything at least two weeks out and say what happens if it is late. Seniors will bring you a November 1 deadline on October 29, cheerfully, with no idea that this is a problem.
- Trim the bullet list to what you will actually use. Five requests is a lot for a seventeen-year-old, and an overwhelmed student sends nothing at all. The resume and the "anything you'd like me to highlight" line carry most of the weight.
- Ask how it gets submitted. A portal upload, an emailed PDF, and a signed letter mailed to a coach are three different jobs with three different lead times. Check your school's process too, since some route every letter through the counseling office.
- Say how many of these you can take this year. Set the number in September, tell your classes, and go first come. That sentence is what keeps November survivable.
What a good reply looks like
What usually arrives, several days later, is most of what you asked for. Ask once for the missing piece and then work with what you have.
The reply worth keeping is the paragraph about why they want the program. Students write things there they have never said out loud in your room, and it will end up in the letter almost verbatim.
Some students never write back at all after asking. Send one reminder with the date in it, then let it go. You will also usually never hear how it turned out, so ask them in the spring, in person. They are not being rude. They are eighteen.