Effective Payment Reminder Mail Format for Higher Education

Payment reminder mail format for Higher Education

[Music] what advice do you have for choosing recommenders I don't know if applicants really appreciate how important the letters of reference are it's really the one opportunity that we get to see you through someone else's eyes objectively what did you do and how did you do it so for me it put a lot of emphasis on making the selection I can give you some tips and how to think about it at Stanford we request two and one we asked for a current direct supervisor or an alternative you know the best alternative if that is impossible or inappropriate and then for the second recommendation we also ask for someone who supervised your work but it could be from a non-profit it could be extracurricular or from the same organization now when you think about selecting them we really just as I've asked applicants and their essays to tell us about the impact that they've had because this past behavior will predict future behavior that's the echo that we want to see in the reference so find someone who knows what you've done you know really been in the trenches and can see your work and describe not just what happened but how you did it and how the way you did it might have been different from others so that means don't worry about the title of a person don't try to get the highest title also I hear a lot of students asking or applicants asking should I try to find someone who went to Stanford because that's important no it's not it's actually what what the what the recommender can tell us about you that is most important the second thing is after them understanding what you've done is enthusiasm this is you know for someone who reads lots of thousands of recommendations this one's a hard one to wrap your hands around but I know the best recommendations that I read are written from both a head space and a heart space right so try to think about who you've established a relationship with someone who really soozee Azam's a great word but has a connection with you and will be able to speak to that and that's how recommendations become most memorable and then lastly I think applicants should think about the process don't ask for recommendation and in email you know it's a big it's gonna take this person a significant amount of time on average our references are about two pages I'm guessing people have to spend at least an hour to to do a good job on them what's what is most disappointing to me when I'm really looking to find to admit is I'll get to the end of an application I'll be on the second recommendation I'll see someone everything's been so positive and they'll write a positive recommendation but maybe only two paragraphs and just say they're phenomenal they're the best ever they've done a great job but I won't have any of that data to help me make a decision and it just means that this particular applicant doesn't have as much data I guess is the best word but landscape for me to really understand what they've done and how they've done it so take it seriously make an appointment even if it's a 15 minute chat but ask the question courageously and say will you write it it's important why where you're going what schools didn't say do you have time to invest to do a good job on this and if someone says they're really busy that's a good indication that maybe you should go to your second choice because it can make a difference in the end of how much they're willing to spend time to help you in this process and then for the recommenders are there any resources for them or how do they know how to write them they're asking the best question we try to give and many recommenders have written more than one before but we try to give them clear advice and tips Wynnum they're invited onto our portal on the website the questions will ask how has this person differentiated themselves from others that they've seen I'm doing similar roles and what have they done and accomplished so they'll get that and I think it's a it comes down to that they're willing to take the time to really support you you know there's no magic there but they do have to make that investment be close enough to you to be able to write thoughtfully about what you've done