Let's say someone is applying for a PhD or postdoc position (or a number of such positions), and needs to decide who should write a recommendation letter. Assume that two letters are needed, but the person has four professors to choose from. All four professors say that they are comfortable with writing a strong letter.  The applicant feels that all else equal, potential hirers give more weight to letters from people they know. Is it ok for the applicant to ask their professors whether they know a potential hirer, so that recommendation letters can be channelled accordingly?
122572
Usually in United States, three letters of recommendation are required by graduate schools but some applicants might ask more than more than three professors (say five) for letters. In this situation, there might be an issue of choosing whose-letter-to-which-school.   I wonder whether it is appropriate to ask each referee at which schools or departments they are relatively more well-known (having connections or interactions with professors in there) so that their letters are more powerful in there.   If it is not appropriate to do so, are there any efficient ways for students to determine to which schools should they send a certain professor's letter?  I am a little awkward with my grammar in this question (including the title). Please feel free to edit my question if you are a native speaker of English. Thank you very much!
45421
I am writing my statement of purpose for my Ph.D. and I want to work in a specific field with a specific professor in the department that I am going to apply for and I have a very good experience in this field. I sent an email for that professor asking if he/she is accepting Ph.D. students and he/she did not respond. I built my whole statement of purpose based on my previous achievements and future plan for that specific area. I also mentioned that I am willing to work with that professor. My statement of purpose tells that I am very passionate about this field and I am only willing to work with that professor (if there were more than one professor working on the same area, I would mention all of them). if that professor doesn't accept new Ph.D. students, will I risk my admission to that school?   Will the committee response be something like this:  "the applicant really knows what he/she is going to do and there is a specific future plan and he/she also got a good experience in this field, but he/she sounds very strict to his plan and doesn't show any flexibility...REJECTED"?
114703
While I know that students are encouraged to "tailor" their applications to the particular school or program they're applying to, does the same hold true for the people writing letters of recommendation on their behalf? In other words, is it possible just to change the "addressee" portion, and use a greeting such as "Dear Members of the Admissions Committee," or is more personalization required?    Just to clarify here, I'm referring to the "pro-forma" parts of the letter, rather than the actual content of the recommendation per se.
78412
How essential is having my advisor's letter for post doc application?   I had a pretty bad relationship with my advisor for more than 4 years since I joined his lab and sometimes the relationship feels like slow inflammation that can easily flare up. We had very different opinion on how I want to approach my thesis and we argue very often on the experimental approach and the angle of attack. After that, he turned passive aggressive and completely hands-off. I noticed that he started slow to response to my email and given me very small amount time for meeting in comparison to other people in the lab. However, I proved to him that my approach was right and wrote the full paper myself and got published.   Recently, I got contact by a post doc employer who interested in my own work and request letter of recommendation. I asked my advisor for letter and he told me that I should write my own from which he can modify. I feel this is quite strange as he had wrote for all the other people in the lab, including a departing post doc who is currently interviewing for job. He told me he had done the same for other people but obviously he lied to me.   I further asked if he can provide me a copy of a completed version of the recommendation but he refused.   My question is should I still trust him to write my letter and is it essential? This post doc position is a great opportunity for me and either way I do is a big gamble.  Update: I decided to let my advisor wrote a letter for me and I think I may have made a big mistake. Since he wrote my letter, I asked the post doc lab head if my letter is completed and I no longer be able to hear back from him. Before that, he was quick to response to my email and showed great enthusiasm. As an insurance, I use one opportunity I have less desire to as bait to test the water and I still have one more shot at another position I really want.  Now, I'm thinking requesting open letter from advisor from now on for any future position or use letter service to check the letter.   Any suggestion? Thanks.  update: Great news! Got interviewed and offered at top ones! Thanks everyone!
95289
I recently finished a paper in which I received valuable feedback from two professors (neither supervisors nor coauthors) at some specific points, which ultimately leaded to localized significant improvements. I highly appreciated it and of course I added explicit mentions in the acknowledgements section stating their suggestions.  My question now is: I hardly will see again these professors for a long time. I thought about sending an email to them commenting on their inclusion on the acknowledgements... But then I thought that it should be something understood as obvious, without too much interest for them or even spammy. So, shall I communicate their inclusion in the acknowledgements section? If so, what will be the correct etiquette for such an email?  EDIT: As @StephanKolassa comments, another important and highly related issue is what is the best timing for communication, if this is considered adequate:   First submission Acceptance Publication (early access or traditional)
13599
In many countries an application for a PhD position includes a written research proposal, so my questions is what are some advises/strategies to come up with a good topic/idea for a PhD research proposal and how can one assess the quality/fruitfulness of an idea? As an undergraduate student one just doesn't have the experience to foresee which ideas might have promising research results and which probably won't have. (And I doubt that potential supervisors have the time to comment on every idea of every potential applicant in cases where it is possible to establish some kind of contact before the actual application.)
95071
What if my PhD advisor doesn't want to give me a letter of recommendation, because he doesn't want me to leave on postdoc? None of his young assistants have ever been on any postdoc or fellowship exchange.
107850
I have applied for a PhD position in October 2015. I was not informed about the result since then.  Is it appropriate to send a mail to a member of the hiring committee (with whom I have contacted before applying) to ask about the process? Or should I wait for them to contact me?  The university is in Sweden and I have contacted with the member prior to the application since he is the head of the research group that I intend to work in.
89400
I have been working in a big-shot multi-national corporation as a developer for two years now, with a possible future as a software architect in some eight to ten years.  Now I want to enroll in a PhD program. I am planning to quit my job and join some university for PhD programs. Now most of the universities needs some research papers, of which I have none. They also require recommendations from professors, however I have already quit college two years back and don't have a working relationship with those professors.   How should I secure letters of recommendation? Will a letter of recommendation from my manager help? Does academia really care about professionals wanting to enter back into the world of higher education again? Will I be able to apply to competitive universities with my profile?
53467
Last week I emailed a professor from my undergrad whom I was close with to say hi and inform her that my undergraduate thesis had been published. I am currently in a master's program and asked her if she would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation for upcoming PhD applications for next Fall (and it is worth noting that she wrote me a letter of recommendation for the program I am currently in). She has yet to reply and having a letter from her would really strengthen my application. Is it in poor taste to resend her an email, or should I move on? Like I said, I would really like to have her letter as part of my applications.
83119
I approached my internship advisor for an LOR while applying to Masters. She said she would not be able to provide a strong one but a good one based on an internship that lasted for two months. I approached her because she holds a PhD from a good university in the USA and she's published papers in top-tier conferences and journals. Will it adversely affect my application? Will it hold as much weight as a strong one because it's she who's recommending it?
91189
When I apply to a PhD program, may I ask a postdoc who closely supervised me to write a recommendation letter? My supervisor also has written one for me, but I believe the postdoc can comment on my research skills in a more detailed and precise way. Does a postdoc have enough authority to convince admission committee?
111026
I prepare to write a cover letter to several banks. The application is online and I need to submit it to each employer. So how could I write in the salutation of the cover letter. I don't have the contact of HR people. Could I write something like this:     To whom it may concern,   ...        Dear Citibank HR,   ...
3306
I understand that schools are trying to gauge the chances of an offer being accepted by a potential candidate. Similarly to what has been described for job applications and other questions that a lower ranked program might not offer admission to someone who applied to just top schools.  How much should a candidate divulge about the other schools he/she is applying to? If applying to a top school will it decrease your chances if you are stating you are applying to another top school?  I find this kind of questions a bit intrusive and that might even compromise to some degree my application. Perhaps some people that have been in admission commitees can shed some light on the dynamics related to applicants that applied to several schools.
32297
I wonder is it a good idea to ask for a letter of recommendation from a emeritus professor who I took his course and knows me well?   I was wondering is it bad to get a letter from someone who is not in Academia anymore?
74831
Out of five needed members for my doctoral thesis committee, four are fixed. For the fifth member, I approached Mr.A. He has no real connection to my research or topic but I contacted him because he was just as good a fit as anybody else in the department to be the fifth member. I have never worked with him or taken any classes but we did talk a lot in the first few years where he would just ask about my progress by the copy machine, etc. We don't even have a "rapport". The relationship is absolutely neutral, nothing positive/friendly, and nothing negative. I asked him to be on my committee and he said yes. I said I'll get back to you with dates, etc. He is a senior tenured professor.  Then about a month later, I was looking at the CV of some of the new hired (junior) faculty in the department Mr.B (this is his first year) and I see that we have a collaborator in common. Mr.B has published multiple papers with him and Mr.B is working with the same code and the code managing team that we are working with. He is definitely a good person to have on my committee. I finally see Mr.B after a few more months (because of busy schedule/travel/etc.) and he agrees to be on my committee.  The question is, how can I tell Mr.A, as tactfully as possible, after about four months of being quiet that he is basically rejected from my committee because I didn't know about Mr.B but now that I know, Mr.B is a much better match than he is? That I don't need him but I do appreciate his offer? I don't want to antagonize Mr.A or burn any bridges. Should this be in email or in person? Should I explain or just keep it terse? Should I keep it vague that I don't need him and thanks for his time? Or should I tell him about Mr.B and why he is a better match?  FYI, this was before anything official/paperwork was done so there is no problem with that.
81446
I am an undergraduate student working for a professor this summer. Up to this point, I have referred to the professor as Dr. LastName. I have met his research group; his graduate and PhD students refer to him by his first name. Moreover, he signs his emails to me with his first name.  Is it acceptable to ask, through email, how he would like to be addressed? Or is it proper etiquette to wait for him to correct me? I would prefer to ask him in person, but I will not be seeing him for several weeks.   For example, in an email: "I have noticed that you sign your emails as 'FirstName'. Would you prefer that I address you as 'FirstName'?"