Why Your Recommendation Letters Are So Important in Your Grad School Application

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Welcome to the May 2025 edition of the GradSchool Fully Funded newsletter! This newsletter is my monthly conversation with you about all things graduate school admissions. If you aspire to attend graduate school in the United States to obtain a master's or Ph.D., and to do so with full funding, then you are in the right place. And if not but you know someone who does, please feel free to share this with them.

Every month we will discuss at least one thing that will help you along that path. As a newsletter subscriber, you will also get access to exclusive special offers and discounts.

The Purpose of the Recommendation Letters

In recent editions of the newsletter I discussed the importance of both purpose and strategy in graduate school admissions - including figuring out your "what and why," your "then what," understanding your prospective discipline, building the all-important grad school list, writing your resume or CV, and of course writing your personal statement.

Today I will focus on the last prong within strategy, which is the recommendation letters.

If you recall, in the last edition on the personal statement, I emphasized that the personal statement is supposed to demonstrate your research chops and your preparedness to do research if pursuing a research degree. So if your personal statement is your personal argument for your readiness to do what it takes to succeed in your graduate program, your recommendation letters should be a validation of that fact.

Therefore you should get recommendations letters from people who enthusiastically vouch for you and your preparedness for grad-level work. If you are applying to Ph.D. programs or research master's degrees, get recommendation letters from professors or mentors with whom you have conducted research or for whom you have done research work, and who can attest to your research chops.

If you are pursuing a professional degree you should get recommendations from professionals in your field who can attest to your preparedness to pursue graduate-level work in that field.

You must be 100% sure that your recommenders will write compelling recommendations for you in the manner described above before you add them to your application.

So, do you plan on applying to grad school this year? Have you thought of your list or recommenders? Feel free to reach out if you would like my feedback.

Announcements

1). Special Call for Prospective Graduate Students Applying this Year

In addition to purpose and strategy, there is the all-important funding, without which choosing grad school is like choosing to be in the poor house.

In GradSchool Fully Funded, our framework is designed to help you marry your purpose with the appropriate strategy to make sure you receive admission with full funding -- a tuition scholarship and stipend.

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So if you plan on applying to graduate school this year to enroll in a master's or Ph.D. program, I have news for you.

​GradSchool Fully Funded is our self-paced graduate school admission coaching program, which you can join at any time.

However, I am building a small cohort of applicants who plan on applying to graduate school this year, starting in the fall, in order to enroll in a master's or PhD program in Fall 2026.

This cohort will start GradSchool Fully Funded together in August this year and will be together as a group till July of next year.

SO, if you plan on applying to graduate school this year and you are interested in learning more about joining this cohort, let me know by clicking here and I will send you more information.

It is important to let me know because I will only send this information to people who are interested.

2). College Admissions: Special Offer for Newsletter Readers

Even though this newsletter focuses on graduate school admission, please note that enrollment in CFF College Fully Funded^®, our admissions coaching program for prospective undergraduates is underway. The registration deadline was May 23rd, but we still have some wiggle room till May 30.

If you know anyone who would benefit from the program please share this part of the newsletter with them. We are paying a $200 referral fee for anyone you refer who enrolls. They simply need to mention your name and email and we will make sure you get your referral bonus.

Have a great Memorial Day holiday.

To grad school fully funded,