How to Send Letter of Recommendation to Universities Abroad!

How to send LOR to Universities Abroad? LOR is a crucial element for applying to study abroad, and the method of LOR submission differs by university. While many study-abroad universities have adopted online submission systems, others may still require email or traditional letter formats. Hence, there are three ways to submit LORs for Universities Abroad: Online Form, E-Mail, and traditional postal system.

This Story also Contains

1. What is a LOR?
2. How to Send LOR to Universities Abroad?
3. How to submit letters of recommendation to colleges?
4. How to ask for a college professor for LOR?
5. How to ask for a LOR from an Employer?

So, why is it important to know how to send letters of recommendation to colleges? It is a document that highlights the skills and strengths of the applicant from a third-person perspective. It helps in ensuring that he/she is the right fit for the applied course of study. Not knowing how to send LORs to universities may indicate that the university might not get to read it decreasing the chances to stand out from the crowd.

If one is thinking about how to send LORs to universities overseas, this article will guide them through the necessary steps to ensure that LOR is submitted correctly and stands out from other students. This article also gives students an insight specifically into 'How to submit LOR for MS'.

What is a LOR?

A letter of recommendation or LOR for abroad studies is a document of reference in the admission application that demonstrates your personal and academic traits in the best way possible by someone who has supervised you once. It includes the notable achievements and strengths of applicants. The person writing an LOR can be a professor, supervisor, mentor, guide, or manager, who knows you well. It is also called a letter of reference.

How to Send LOR to Universities Abroad?

Some of the aspects to consider while understanding how to send letters of recommendation to multiple schools include the following:

Check with the university for LOR requirements

Each university follows certain guidelines for the application process. You need to check these guidelines of their respective universities and how they prefer to receive the LOR in aspects of the format, submission modes, etc. Some educational institutions specifically ask for recommendation letters from professors or heads of departments to be a part of certain courses.

Mostly, the LOR has to be prepared on letterhead and sealed and signed originally by the college or company. You can check how to send LOR to universities abroad sample for MS, and MBA depending on your course and university. Hence, one must give the preferences selected by you for writing an LOR for MS studies; to avoid any negative impact on the application.

Choose the right recommender for LOR abroad

The first and foremost thing in the phases of how to submit letters of recommendation to colleges is to decide who should write your recommendation letter for abroad. Most of the universities abroad require 2- 3 recommendation letters for certain courses. Now the question of sourcing your recommendation letters depends on two vital factors:

• Whether you were previously working

• What are the general eligibility requirements of the programme you are applying for?

In case you don’t have work experience, the only way to source your letter of recommendation is from your professors. If you have had internship experience, you can ask your mentor to write the same for you. However, if you have previous work experience or your programme requires you to have such experience, then sourcing the letter from the workplace is a good option.

Place your recommendation letter request in advance:

Plan to shortlist, and contact the recommenders in advance before the beginning of the application process.

How to submit letters of recommendation to colleges?

There are three modes via one can submit LOR to universities abroad for different courses. These modes of LOR Submission are given below:

• Online

• Email

• Post

Online mode to submit LOR to colleges

The universities abroad which accept your applications through online mode have a portal where the recommenders can directly upload the letter of recommendation. As students are not authorised to submit their own recommendations, Teachers and employers send them online through the application submission portal.

Most commonly for bachelor applications to abroad universities is a common app where you can submit the letter along with the application. So, ‘how to send recommendation letters to colleges common app?’ Students can ask their recommender (teachers) to submit. When you invite your teacher, Common App will send them a link to upload their letter of recommendation into Common App.

Steps to Send LORs to Universities Abroad Online

• While filling out the application form for the university, a tab for recommendations or an upload option is provided.

• For the upload option -directly upload the copy of the LOR.

• For LOR tab - Contains a form that asks the details like the recommender name, address, mail ID, and designation to be given.

• A notification mail will be sent to the applicant and at the same time provided the recommender receives an uploading link through his/her mail ID.

• The recommender needs to click the link provided in the mail and upload the LOR accordingly.

Email mode to send LORs to Universities

It is one of the most common methods of submitting a letter of recommendation to colleges. Generally, the majority of the top universities in the world require LOR submission by the recommenders from their official email addresses. It is important to mention the right application reference number in the subject of the email sent to make it easy for the universities to sort it out.

Moreover, the recommender can mail the necessary documents through their official college ID or company ID. It is better to avoid the general email IDs of the recommender like Google and Yahoo to avoid further issues.

Post mode to send letters of recommendation to colleges

It is one of the traditional ways to send LORs by post; however, a few of the universities abroad require the references by post. In such scenarios, students collect the letters of reference in sealed envelopes that are originally signed, and stamped. Then the LORs are sent by courier or post with important information such as the recommender’s details, application reference number, cover letter, course name, etc.

If the student is required to send letters of recommendation to multiple schools, they must ask the recommender to write the letter in an original form for each of them as the copies of LORs are not acceptable by the admission authorities abroad.

How to ask for a college professor for LOR?

While sending LOR to universities abroad is a task in itself, it is important to approach properly when asking for a letter of recommendation from college mentors or professors. Here are the steps through which study abroad aspirants can successfully ask for LORs from their college professors.

If you are an undergraduate or in the final year of your degree, you can submit a letter of recommendation from your professors, HODs, principal, academic advisor, coach, etc.

A step-by-step guide to requesting a LOR

• Place the recommendation request to your professor to their official college mail ID earlier than the start of the application process.

• As there can be other students who can be waiting for LOR from the same professor, make sure to prepare the draft of LOR by referring to the LOR samples, and format in context to the requirements of the university, details of application number, etc.

• The professor needs to prepare the LOR on the college letterhead and provide the details like his/her official college mail id, and college address and signed along with the college stamp and seal.

• Once during the application notify them of the submission process like “How to Send LORs to Universities Abroad” and proceed accordingly.

How to ask for a LOR from an Employer?

Considering the work background of the applicant and the university requirement of LOR, decide the number of LORs to be submitted from the company and college. The applicant can place 2-3 LORs from the current working company, previous company, or college.

A step-by-step guide on how to ask an employer for a LOR sample?

• Shortlist the people from your network like managers, colleagues, team leads, etc. and approach your head from whom you prefer to receive a letter of recommendation in your company.

• Place an informal letter of recommendation request through a call.

• After acceptance, submit a LOR request formally through mail by sharing your resume and describing your purpose of LOR, matching skills, strengths, and other details regarding application, university, course, etc. Make sure to complete the draft LOR before the application process.

• The employer needs to prepare the LOR on the company letterhead and provide the details like his/her official office mail ID and address, sign along with the official stamp and seal it.

• During the application process, notify them regarding the submission process like “How to Send LORs to Universities Abroad” via online/email/post according to the requirement.

• Once completed, place your thanks to your employer both formally and informally.