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Letter of Recommendation for a PhD Application
A PhD LOR must speak to research capability specifically: independence, persistence through failed approaches, and the quality of the candidate's own questions. Teaching performance is secondary at this level.
Other letter of recommendation formats
Common questions
Who should write a letter of recommendation?
Someone who supervised your work directly and can give specific examples. A junior lecturer who taught you closely writes a far stronger letter than a department head who barely knows you.
How long should it be?
One page, three to four paragraphs. Longer letters dilute the specific evidence that makes them persuasive.
Can the candidate draft it themselves?
It happens, and some recommenders ask for a draft. The recommender must review, edit and sign it in their own voice — the letter has to be genuinely theirs.
