Study Abroad and LORs

Graduate School
1

<p>As my son nears completion of his study abroad program and begins to contemplate grad. school applications, I'm curious about others' experiences and opinions regarding requesting letters of recommendation from professors encountered during study abroad. He is in humanities and the country where he's been studying all year will be the focus of his graduate studies as well. Obviously, it is important that one have letters from one's home institution, but there are a few reasons I think my son might be wise to ask for letters from a couple of his current teachers before he comes home. Specifically, he knows his language teacher there will write him a letter of the "best in my career" variety, because she has already shared having done so for another application he submitted earlier this year; this would be meaningful because he's at the top level of a very well-regarded program with other highly accomplished American students. Also, he has been involved in independent research with a faculty member at a nearby university. This professor has indicated that she views my son very positively, although he does not know what her English letter writing would be like.</p>

<p>From what I am able to discern, my son has good relationships with several professors at his home institution. However, he will be doing an honors thesis his senior year with a professor with whom he has not had any previous interaction and he has not done any other independent research outside of classes prior to this year. Language-wise, he will have completed the highest level possible during his study abroad program. Given that most of the graduate school programs to which he'll be applying request 3 letters, would it make sense for him to ask either or both of the teachers mentioned above in his study abroad program for letters? If so, would you advise that either or both of these letters be counted as part of the 3 required, or only be sent as supplements?</p>

2

<p>I would highly suggest not having a language teacher from an abroad program write the letter. I know it seems like a great thing especially if you are doing area studies but its better to get one from your home institute. If you were going to get one from abroad it should be with a well known professor at that institute.</p>

3

<p>Your S goes to a very highly regarded university. Use the professors there. Don’t worry about his thesis professor- with enough interaction, they will get to know each other quite well.</p>

<p>Would your S consider taking a year off?</p>

<p>Admissions committee know that non-American/British professors don’t generally write very well and sometimes those professors do actually ask students to “write” the letter for them. So they’re generally not weighed heavily. So if your S gets 2 professors from his home university, the committee will look at those letters more closely than the third letter from the professor from his study abroad progrram.</p>

<p>Forget about the language teacher. S/he will only be useful when he wants to apply for the Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship if he applies for the PhD and she’ll need to evaluate his language skills (but I suspect that his university language professor will evaluate him just as fairly).</p>