Some guidelines for students who want letters of
recommendation written by Dr. Jon'a Meyer

Believe it or not, writing letters of recommendation is NOT an easy task. Sometimes, I find it difficult to "fish around" for things to say about students that will benefit them. And, I sometimes do not know about important information that would benefit a student. For this reason, I have developed these guidelines to help you help me write a good letter for you.

First, and foremost, you want the strongest letters you can find. In other words, if you took just one class with me and three with Professor XYZ, you might want to hunt up Professor XYZ because his/her letter will be stronger due to having more experience with you. It is also much easier to write letters for students who have contact with me outside of class, e.g., during office hours. Getting to know you will make writing a good letter much easier. I should know enough about you to enable me to spontaneously be able to draft a letter. Admissions and hiring committees do not value letters that say "I first met Mr. Smith when he took a class with me this semester, so I feel well qualified to comment on his entire life and abilities to excel in your environment." They also disvalue letters that say, "Ms. Smith passed my class only because she did all three extra credit assignments." So, try to track down faculty and others who can honestly say great things about you.

1. Transcripts with classes you have taken with me circled or highlighted. This makes it easy for me to say you are a top performer and to list how many classes you have taken with me. If you depend on my memory, I may not remember all of the classes you took with me. The transcripts need not be official. You can get them off the web if you want, but make sure to check the option that prints your name on them (I nearly mixed up two transcripts one semester due to lack of names and do not want that happening again).

2. Information about class assignments you did well on. If you wrote me a great paper, I can note that in the letter only if I can list it by title, etc. So, please give me titles, topics, and scores from any papers you would like mentioned. If you have special notes on your paper (e.g., "excellent incorporation of class ideas"), feel free to add those to the list. It is much better to note that your class paper was a creative application of classical theory to the modern problem of academic dishonesty than to just say you got a 'B' in the class (besides, the committee can get your grades off your transcripts).

3. Your statement of purpose or self-statement. This will help me tailor letters to your goals. It is much better to say that you have specific goals that will be fulfilled by your attendance at XYZ Law School than to simply say you would make "a darn good lawyer cuz I said so."

4. Your resume, including any exciting stuff about you that I might not know, but could make your letter stronger. I probably do not know about your chairing the Committee to Advance Literacy for the past three years and that would make a nice addition to a letter to get into a graduate program in education. You may have volunteered with XYZ Charity or worked with disadvantaged youth in the Yukon, but I cannot include that which I do not know. If you have particular things you want emphasized, make sure they are on the list of exciting stuff. If you have experience that ties to the program you want in or to work for, make sure to include that.

5. If you want personal information included, make sure you write that down and include a note stating that you want it included. I would never mention that you are a single parent raising two children, for example, unless you specifically ask for that to be included. Same goes for working your way through college, successfully conquering your alcoholism, or overcoming some form of disability. These items may strengthen certain applications, but it is your call about whether to include them.

6. Addressed envelope or label. If the school does not require special return envelopes, please provide a typed address label for me to affix to one of our University envelopes. That way, the school or employment opportunity cannot hold my horrible handwriting against you!

7. Stamps. One semester, a student asked me to send out over a hundred letters of recommendation for him (he was trying to ensure that he got into a law school somewhere). Since our budget cannot handle that kind of burden, please make sure to include stamps for me to use to mail each of your letters if you want more than five sent out. If postage cost is a problem for you, feel free to see me.

8. Make sure to check whether you waive access to the letter or not. If you do NOT waive access, the letter may have much lower value because the committee will think I am saying nice things about you only because I am afraid you will look the letter up later. For that reason, I recommend that you check the "waive access" box for all of your letters, especially if you are applying to a competitive program or school.

9. Any forms that are needed by the school or employment opportunity. If my name is required on them, please fill it in for me neatly. Due to my visual impairment, I have great difficulty filling in the tiny boxes on some of the forms (especially the LSAC recommendation forms). Here's some info you might need:

Name: Jon'a Meyer, Ph.D.
Position: Associate Professor of Criminal Justice
Department: Dept. of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice
University: Rutgers University-Camden
Address: 405 Cooper St., Camden, NJ 08102
Phone: (856) 225-6207
Email:  

Also important!: Make sure the deadlines are clearly marked  or noted for me so I can adhere to them.
 

Jon'a F. Meyer, 856-225-6207

Page last updated: August 28, 2007