Tips for Referees
In general, scholarship/fellowship committees give preference to candidates who combine high academic ability, personal integrity, an ongoing commitment to community service, and the potential to make a significant contribution to their discipline and professional career. Candidates also must demonstrate the potential and desire to play an active role in the life of their host community.
Letters of recommendation are the most important items outside of the applicant essays written by the candidates. These are extremely competitive awards; candidates are competing on a national basis for a very limited number of scholarships. Referees are, therefore, advised to provide as much relevant detail as possible. Specific examples and concrete comparisons with other students make a stronger case for our best candidates.
Powerful letters provide ample detail and evidence of: (a) familiarity with the candidate; (b) her/his past accomplishments; (c) her/his leadership potential (especially her/his potential for distinction in her/his field and chosen profession); (d) her/his plans and preparation for research or study with the scholarship; (e) how such plans fit into the candidate's long range career goals; and (f) why you believe that she/he merits strong consideration by the selection committee. Sample letters and scholarship-specific information may be found online.
Try not to rely solely on a summary of the candidate's performance in a class or a cursory review of her/his transcripts and/or résumé. Rather, seek a balanced, detailed, honest yet favorable portrait of the candidate from your perspective that addresses the criteria desired by the particular scholarship. Feel free to ask the candidate if there is anything that she/he would like you to mention in your letter.
Ideally, the candidate should provide you with a copy of her/his transcripts, résumé, and program proposal. She/he should also provide you with information about the scholarship. Information about each of the scholarship's general criteria and the University of Illinois application process may be found on the following pages: Beinecke, Churchill, Fulbright, Gates Cambridge, Goldwater, Luce, Marshall, Mitchell, Truman, and Rhodes.
Further, if your student is applying for a Fulbright grant, please see 1) information tailored specifically to letter of recommendation writers for the full student Fulbright Grant, or 2) a reference form that needs to be filled out for those students who are applying for an English Teaching Assistantship Fulbright.
Recommendation letters should be frank and devoid of hyperbole. Avoid pro forma letters at all costs. Letters generally exceed one page in length.
You may be required to submit a draft letter of recommendation to topscholars@illinois.edu or 807 S. Wright Street, Floor 5, MC-317, for the purposes of the campus interviewing and endorsement committee. However, an official letter eventually will be required. In any case, the campus review committee may ask you to clarify or to correct typological errors prior to submitting your official letter.
Thank you for assisting a bright, aspiring scholar!