Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for Masters: Format, Sample and Tips

What is a LOR for a Masters? A letter of recommendation or LOR for MS studies is a document of reference that helps to highlight the skills and strengths of the applicant from a third-person perspective. The person writing a LOR can be a professor, supervisor, mentor, guide, or manager that is basically who knows you well. It is also called a letter of reference.

This Story also Contains

1. Why is LOR important for Masters?
2. How to Write LOR for Masters?
3. Who should write your letter of recommendation?
4. Decide who is the best person to write your recommendation letter
5. What should the letter include?
6. What is the Structure of LOR for a Master’s?
7. Format of LOR for MS
8. Tips for Writing a Letter of Recommendation for Masters
9. LOR for Masters Sample
10. What to include in an LOR for MS in different courses

Hence, it is a reference shared by the past school/university or an organization that includes the notable achievements and strengths of applicants. It showcases students' abilities and ensures that he/she is the right fit for the applied course of study. Read the article below to learn more about the aspects of letter of recommendation for Master!

Why is LOR important for Masters?

LOR is important for Masters due to various reasons such as:

• Validation of credibility: An LOR helps in verifying the authenticity of academic records, achievements, skills, interests, and talents that are presented to the admission authorities by the students.

• Personal Observation: As the one recommending has once supervised the candidate, he/she has accurate knowledge about whether or not an applicant is a right fit for the intended course of study or not.

• Stands out from other applicants: Presenting the university with a LOR helps international students stand out from other candidates applying for the same course. It adds a personal and qualitative dimension to their application.

• Competition edge: Providing exceptional and good letters of reference to universities helps students to be differentiated from the applications. It enhances the overall quality of the application.

How to Write LOR for Masters?

Prospective students planning to provide an LOR along with their admission applications must know how to write LOR for MS. To be concise, one must select someone who knows the aspects of the letter and what key components to include in it. It must add some weight to the application; so that your chances of selection can be increased. Some of the important aspects of the letter are mentioned below:

Who should write your letter of recommendation?

The first and foremost thing is to decide who should write your recommendation letter for MS abroad. Most of the universities abroad require 2- 3 recommendation letters for MS 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 for master's 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.

Decide who is the best person to write your recommendation letter

If you haven’t already, you should decide who is the best person to write the letter of recommendation (LOR) for MS for you. Ideally, you should have a personal connection with the writer. So, try to build a rapport with the person so that he/she can assess you.

In case you are a student, it is better to ask your teachers to write a LOR who have previously seen your work. The best way is to approach the teacher beforehand. Don’t wait till the last or take your teacher by surprise with the recommendation letter. The same thing applies to your manager or mentor, too. Make sure you have worked with or under the person you want to write a recommendation letter for you.

What should the letter include?

Asking people to write your letter of recommendation is just a part of the process. You must discuss what elements you want to present in the LOR for MS. Two main elements should be presented in all LORs. First, the referee's relation and personal experience with the applicant and secondly, the potential of the student as seen from the referee’s perspective.

The referee can also add experiences that showcase your potential to the admission panel. It might be a project or classwork. What needs to be highlighted are the qualities of the applicant through these experiences.

A letter of recommendation also acts as proof of the facts presented in the statement of purpose. For example, if you have listed working on a specific project as a validity of your potential, the referee’s perspective on the project can go a long way in making your application strong.

Check with the university for LOR requirements for Masters

Some educational institutions specifically ask for recommendation letters from professors or heads of departments to be a part of master courses. Hence, one must give the preferences selected by you for writing an LOR for MS studies; to avoid any negative impact on the application.

What is the Structure of LOR for a Master’s?

One must follow the accurate format of LOR for MS courses as it is one of the important aspects of the admission decisions. Some of the features of a perfect LOR for masters are:

• It is a single-page document of 400-500 words.

• The structure is broadly divided into 4 to 5 paragraphs

• The components of a LOR for masters include an introduction, body (2-3 paras), and conclusion/summary.

Note: This is a common letter format for master applicants acceptable at most of the universities abroad.

Format of LOR for MS

Recommender Introduction: The LOR must begin with personal information such as the designation, name of the college/university where they hold the position, and the department they are a part of about the writer. It must also highlight the relationship between the recommender and the student and how long they have known each other. They must also add which subject they taught the student.

Provide applicant’s high academic record: The body paragraph must start by highlighting the excellent academic record of the student with other merit based achievements. The writer must try to write in such a way that the reader knows the best qualifications of the candidate.

Show the candidate’s great personality: the second paragraph must talk about good personal traits about the applicant such as brainstorming, thinking out of the box, etc. They can talk about this through relevant examples.

Any other quality of the candidate: Recommender now must write about some soft skills such as leadership tendencies, entrepreneurial capabilities, organisational skills, teamwork, and many more. They can use relevant examples with this as well.

Concluding the applicant’s portfolio: At last, the recommender must provide a complete summary of the overall traits of students as discussed in the above paragraphs. It should form a basis of why this student is the right choice for the specific course of study. He/she must also share their contact details such as phone numbers and emails in this summary paragraph

Tips for Writing a Letter of Recommendation for Masters

As it is one of the crucial documents in the study abroad admission application, one must write a perfect and strong LOR for masters. It is vital to be sure that it is accurately written describing your personal and academic traits in the best way possible to present a strong application.

Recommenders must be aware of the content to include and what to avoid while writing a LOR. Hence, a few of the tips to keep in mind for students while writing a letter of recommendation for MS are mentioned below:

What to include in LOR?

• Choosing the right person to draft a LOR that can endorse their academic and work achievements perfectly.

• Supporting LOR with relevant and prominent examples showing the idealism of the applicants.

• The recommender and student must hold a genuine professional relationship

• One must ensure that a LOR contains true and factual information about the recommender.

What to Avoid in LOR?

• Overstuffing and exaggeration of the achievements; rather write on point information

• Do not exceed a word count of 400 to 500.

• Do not copy other student’s LOR to write your own. Plagiarism is highly unacceptable.

LOR for Masters Sample

Here, we have given a sample of a LOR for masters for more understanding about what to add in the reference.

I, Shaurya Kapoor, Head of the Department of Biochemistry at St. Xavier’s College, Bangalore, take extreme pleasure in writing this Letter of Recommendation for Riya Bhalla, a brilliant Undergraduate student of Biochemistry at our university. I have had the pleasure of teaching Riya for 4 years as part of her course at the college, during which I have known her to be a highly motivated and sincere student.

Riya can be easily described as an all-rounder - academically and personally. A top scorer every year, she goes the extra mile to help her fellow students learn and achieve their academic goals, which speaks a lot about her altruistic personality. This particularly came to my notice in the First Year of the UG course when I saw Riya devoting her time and efforts after college hours to help a fellow student who was particularly weak in one of the semester subjects.

Seeing her keen interest in helping others, I recommended her name to the university for the tutoring council, which comprises hard-working and brilliant students who are asked to share their knowledge and learning with their peers in an attempt to grow and excel together. Riya also showed a keen interest in extracurricular activities, mainly Fine Arts. During her course tenure, she has regularly participated in several arts and painting competitions at the university and inter-college levels. She has always displayed exemplary performance in each of them.

She was approached by one of the Art Societies in Bangalore to conduct her Exhibition of Arts at the H.A.L Fine Arts Society in Bangalore in 2022, which was a commendable success. In addition to her academic and non-scholastic qualities, Riya also displays some remarkable traits in her persona - leadership, teamwork, creativity, and adaptability to any person or situation. Furthermore, Riya is extremely agreeable and conscientious. I would only be delighted to recommend her for the next step of career growth she wishes to pursue - a Master's in Biochemistry at your esteemed university.

I have no doubts in affirming that Riya would continue to exhibit the same values and skills during her Master's, which she brought to the table during her Bachelor's at our university. I wish her all the best in all her endeavours with the hope and confidence that she will be a valuable asset to every institution and organisation that she becomes a part of in the future.

Yours truly,

Shaurya Kapoor
HoD, Biochemistry
St. Xavier’s College, Bangalore, India
Tel: +91 xxxxx xxxxx
professional Email ID

What to include in an LOR for MS in different courses

The following things must be kept in mind before applying for certain subjects. Some key aspects are important to add to that reference. Check the below mentioned points for a complete understanding:

Letter of Recommendation for MS in Computer Science

• What programming languages is he/she an expert in

• Any specific project where he/she used his/her technical expertise

• Knowledge of different applications

• Coding skills and where did he/she showcase them

• Any application developed/created, and more pertinent skills

LOR for MS in data analytics

• Probability

• Statistical analysis

• Expertise in analytical tools

• Programming

• Problem solving skills

• Proficiency in processing unstructured data

• Decision-making skills

Letter of Recommendation for MS in Engineering

• Projects where the applicants used their technical expertise

• Coding skills and where did they showcase them

• What programming languages they are experts in

• Any application developed/created

• Knowledge of different applications