Frederick M. Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology, 440 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802
Phone: (814) 863-1716, FAX: (814) 863-7003, E-mail: f3b@psu.edu

Requirements for Letter of Recommendation

Writing effective personal letters of recommendation takes considerable effort and time, and I receive many requests. So if you would like me to write you strong letters of recommendation, you need to fulfill the following so that I can complete and return them to you as quickly as possible.

I need:

1. You to sign the "waiver of rights" to view your letters of recommendations.

2. A copy of your personal resume' or Curriculum Vitae.

3. An unofficial or copy of your current grade transcript or chronological list of courses and grades.

4. A statement of purpose or intention of what you want to do with your proposed advanced training or job.

5. Your most recent GRE, LSAT, or MEDCAT scores for graduate school applications (not necessary for work letters).

6. You to state how long you have known me (include which years), and in what capacities, including which courses (and the grades you received from me), whether I am/was your work-study supervisor, academic advisor, and/or research supervisor, and so on.

7. A description of directly relevant background experiences to your proposed area of advanced training or job.

8. A list of the institutions and deadlines for the letters so they can be checked off when I send them.

9. For you to type (preferably) all required information on the form that pertains to you, and all that pertains to me before you give it to me, including my title and departmental address (which you will find at the top of this form), everything except my signature and the date that I sign your form.

10. Be certain to completely address and add postage to all envelopes in which you want your letters sent.

When I receive your applications what I expect to do is review the information that you give me, complete any requested ratings, add a letter of recommendation, and sign my signature and date of completion.
So the more attention that you pay to the necessary details in preparing your application forms beforehand, the easier it will be for me to write the letters and quickly complete the applications for you. Good luck!