<p>Should a student whom intends to apply for summer 'Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)' programs ask that the folks who write his Letters of Recommendation submit their letters by e-mail to each individual program?</p>
<p>We want to make this process as convenient as possible for the letter writers, so they will be encouraged to complete the task as soon as possible. Do you think the the REU directors would view a recommendation sent by "global" e-mail would be frowned upon? It would save the writers a lot of time and trouble, as opposed to sending an individual e-mail/PDF to each program when the student in question has applied to multiple REUs.</p>
<p>Whenever I’ve written multiple letters for students applying for jobs/grad school, I have sent a slightly individualized letter to each organization (e.g. “Suzie Snowflake would be a great candidate for the BigStateU program in PlayDoh Engineering” and “Suzie Snowflake would be a great candidate for the OftenOverlookedCampus program in Barbie Fashion Studies”). I see that as part of my professional responsibility.</p>
<p>If I were reading the letter as an admissions person, I think a “generic” letter would be slightly less persuasive. YMMV, though, and it’s nice of you to try to make it easier for the recommenders. The best way to do that is to make sure your request includes:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Copy of applicant’s resume plus any essay or cover letter that details interest in the programs </p></li>
<li><p>Clear instructions and addresses for submitting the letter, including deadlines. SASE if the application requires a hard copy to be sent.</p></li>
<li><p>Completely prepared forms so that the evaluator merely has to fill out their part and sign.</p></li>
<li><p>Sufficient time for the person to write the letter.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck! :)</p>
<p>It’s a bit late in the cycle to be applying for REUs. In our experience, most have January deadlines. There are some that have February and March deadlines too and some that open up because students drop their commitment to a program.</p>
<p>Students should ideally ask their professors for LORs during the winter break when they’re not busy correcting exams and papers, and before the spring semester starts when they have to prep for courses.</p>
<p>That said, in my son’s case, professors typically wrote LORs that were individualized to the student and the REU program - that is xxx would be a good fit in these research areas because …</p>
<p>Son only applied to one or two per summer but that was enough - that was when getting into REUs was fairly easy. It got a lot harder to get into REUs a few years ago. It’s best to look at the REUs that you would really like to do because of the research projects and professors, and any school-specific aspects.</p>
<p>Thank you Stradmom and BCEagle.</p>
<p>Thankfully, there are some REUs that will accept applications up to March 15. We’re planning to have all applications completed by February 15.</p>
<p>How right you are BCEagle. Winter break would have been the ideal time for Junior to get his ducks in a row regarding letters of recommendation, but have you ever heard of the species called ‘Teen-ageratus, Procrastinatus?’</p>
<p>Well, if he’s unsuccessful in his quest this summer it will be a good lesson for next season.</p>