幾乎所有的大學都會要求美國留學申請人提出推薦信，評審委員藉著推薦者的文字描述，可以瞭解申請人的背景狀況。它可說明各種成績單數字以外的其它意義，補充過於計量化、公式化稽核的一種評估方式。
留學推薦信應該找一些具有一定知名度且與申請人熟識的人撰寫，一般的最佳人選就是申請人的專業課老師、班主任、學校裡跟申請人接觸較多的比較權威的老師、或者實習公司的領導等等。推薦人應該瞭解申請人的學習經歷，對於所推薦的內容也應該以事實為依據，並且推薦人對申請人的評估基準應該在推薦信中表現出來，例如，申請人在教過學生們的排名，或者由推薦人指導後申請人獲得的獎項。推薦信的重點應該放在學校評審委員認為最重要的訊息，比如如果你申請的專業比較注重實用性或動手能力，那公司的主管可能就比授課老師要有權威一些，但是如果你申請的專業是以學術為主，那麼教授對申請人的資格的評估則較具可信力。
我們將提供你留學推薦信需注意的要點，幫助你著手起稿推薦信：
(一)不要拖時間，儘快起草：推薦信需要時間寫，何況又得配合老師的時間。所以儘快起草你的推薦信，以便使你的推薦者有充裕的時間，為你的推薦信效力。
(二)提供充份的資訊給推薦者：如果你要推薦者能掌握你的優點，你得提供充份的資訊。自然，要儘量具體避免空洞地陳述。同時，你也該提供你申請學校截止日期給推薦者參考，以免推薦者耽誤了你的申請。
(三)各留學推薦信的打字書信字型，宜選不同的型式，以示不同的推薦者。屬需要圈選的表格者，可以直接以手稿填入。
(四)在邏輯推理下，推薦者不可能知道或瞭解你的特質，請勿提及。譬如說，學生課外活動的表現就不適於平常教授正式科目的教授提及，除非教授也參與其中。又如其它課堂的表現，除非其它教授曾經提及過，否則不適合此科教授評論學生在其它科目的表現。再如，學生如何在圖書館查資料、寫報告花費的時間，一般老師是不可能知之甚詳，除非實在太特殊而略有耳聞，故也不適合在推薦信中提及。
(五)留學推薦信的內容儘量簡短有力：不要虛無空洞的形容詞，例如他任職於某公司時，勤勞、負責、認真、為人謙虛、誠懇等語句，不宜多引用，最好講出具體事實，才不流於形式，尤其不要抄襲市面的書信範例，以免流於陳腔濫調，落入俗套。
(六)如果可能的話，推薦者最好與你修的科目或學校相關。譬如說：如果你將來計劃主修英文，最好推薦人之一是英文老師。又如，如果你申請常春藤名校(ivy league school)，推薦者若也是常春藤名校出身，則其推薦信將更有力。
(七)適當提及自己的“缺點”。一封推薦信如果闡述的完全是被推薦的同學的優點，不免讓人覺得有粉飾之嫌，如果能恰當地加入一些“缺點”，不僅能令推薦信真實，還會通過“似貶實褒”，反而突出了被推薦人的特殊氣質。例如計算機專業、數學專業乃至金融專業的同學，在推薦信中可以考慮加入這樣的詞句：“該生有時因為過分專注於研究工作而難以平衡生活各方面的關係，這不失為一種美中不足”。這句話似乎是在談“缺點”，但很明顯這樣的“缺點”其實正是很多專業最渴望的“缺點”——廢寢忘食的工作態度，從而使得“缺點”也為申請提供了巨大幫助。
留學推薦信包含的主要題材：
(一)與申請者的關係：表達清楚何種方式認識。譬如說是老師、指導教授，老闆等。說明交往多久，如果是教授學生關係，對教授的科目做一個簡短的說明，如果推薦信者是你的老闆(主管)，請詳細說明你的工作職責。
(二)推薦者對申請人人格個性特徵的印象：譬如學習精神、工作態度、與同事(同學)相處的情形、組織領導能力、學術專長、研究能力、有無工作經驗與否，並加註評語。
(三)推薦者對你能否順利完成學位的看法：譬如說，描述你對特別分配職務上的表現，以表現你的應變能力。又如，申請者是否有其它潛力未發揮? 如果申請者的成績未盡理想，評述你對申請者的看法。解釋申請者雖然形式上的成績未盡理想，卻有極深厚的潛力尚未發揮。如果申請者轉系，也可以強調申請者有強烈的學習動機，根據推薦者的觀察，相信以申請者的表現，一定可以成功完成學業。
(四)推薦者對申請人人格個性特徵的印象：譬如學習精神、工作態度、與同事(同學)相處的情形、組織領導能力、學術專長、研究能力、有無工作經驗與否，並加註評語。
(五)重述推薦者對申請人的支援及能力的確認，以再次肯定對申請人的支援與推薦。
留學推薦信的結構
推薦信的結構形式是比較統一的，尤其是開頭和結尾兩段大概表現的意思基本上是一樣的。①第一段首先應該介紹一下推薦人與申請人的關係，在什麼情況下認識，相識多久;並且應該明確在第一段中表現出推薦人非常願意推薦申請人到這個學校就讀。②一般第二段就是推薦人對申請人的評估情況，也可以表現一下推薦人為何對申請人印象深刻，然後舉例證實一下推薦人對於申請人的評估結構。如果所表達的東西比較多，這一部分也可以分為兩段來寫。③第三段內容主要是對申請人特質的一些概括，或者是推薦人認為申請人在這個專業以後的發展潛力做一下描述，還可寫一些對學校評審委員的感謝之類的話。
留學推薦信的模式
推薦信的格式有些模式可循，以下將針對各段提供模式作參考：
(一)抬頭可用的格式有：
dear sir/madam;
to whom it may concern:
(二)第一段：引文句子可以引用如： “it is a pleasure to recommend to you (name)， a former student of mine at (name of university).”
“i an very happy to have this opportunity to recommend (name)， who is presently applying for admission to your graduate (or undergraduate) program in (name of program).” “i understand that (name) is applying for admissions to your graduate (undergraduate) school， and has requested that i write this letter of recommendation for her/him.” “in my capacity as professor at xxxx university， i have known xxx for three years， as both his/her advisor and professor.”
(三)第二段：這段可以提供最實質的內容。譬如，如果推薦者是教授， 解釋學生在他門下所修的課程。 “(name) took two of my courses during the 1984-85 academic year， as follows; “xxxxx” and “xxxxx”.” “(name) was enrolled in three of classes from september 1984 to june 1986 “xxx” and “xxx”.”
接下來，教授寫一些有關申請人在課堂上的表現，如完成的研究計劃、實驗室研究、研究報告、考試的成績、課堂態度、討論課的參與等，舉出例項。 “in my class (es)， (name) did excellent work. she always listened attentively， participated activitely in class， and handed in very good written assignment. “in particular， his/her research paper on (topic) was of exceptionally high quality， and showed that s/he fully understands and has a strong background in his/her field.”
如果推薦人是工作主管，首先一定要仔細陳述申請人的工作職責，並對申請者工作表現作一評估。如果可能的話儘量列舉例項。 “when (name) held the position of (job title) in this company she was one s/he was one of my best employees. his/her job responsibilities included (describe them)， and s/he carried out his/her duties with exceptional skill and professionalism.” “s/he not only did his/her own work， but also helped other employees， and made many valuable contributions to the efficient running to our firm.”
第二段最後一段：可以提及申請人在班上(或公司裡)的比較表現(譬如排名)： “i was rate (name)'s academic ability as in the top 10% of his/her class.” “compared against other students that i have taught， i would say that (name) ranks in the upper 10%.
接下來，推薦者可對申請人能否成功完成學業提出看法。舉例： “based on his/her previous performance， i am certain that (name) would be a very successful student at your university.” “i believe that (name) possesses all the qualities necessary to make an excellent graduate student in his/her chosen field， and am sure that s/he will make a fine addition to your campus.”
(四)第三段：如果還有其它話想說，請另寫一段.例如：英文能力、溝通技巧、領導才能、特殊學術或工作背景。譬如說，如果申請人慾申請的科系是企管系，推薦者可著力描寫他們有關申請人商業的專門技術、領導才能，以及申請者所參加的商業活動，例如，有關商業方面的組織社團。又如，申請人申請護理研究所，推薦者可著力描寫他們關懷的態度、處理實驗室的技能，或是對病人的奉獻。
(五)最後，以幾句結尾作總結; “therefore， i am happy to highly and without reservation recommend (name) for admission to your graduate program. your kind/serious consideration of his/her application would be most appreciated.” “i am thus pleased to give my full support and recommendation to (name)'s application for admission to your school. if any further information is required， please feel free to contact me.”
簽名：
sincerely，
sincerely yours，
very truly yours，
with best regards，
下面結合上面的部分內容，給出一篇留學推薦信樣例(被推薦的同學是數學系的)：
dear sir/madam: i am writing this letter of recommendation for b，my former student. i have known mr. caleb for more than 6 years since his freshman year at "university of minnesota". at that time， he took the course-- "mathematical analysis，" which i taught mainly for junior students majoring in mathematics. to my surprise， i found he was among the few students in his class who could keep up with the pace of my lectures. moreover， he often posed thought-provoking questions during the course. thus it was natural that i liked discussing with this young man and became familiar with him. the more i knew him， the more i found he was talented at mathematics. as you can see， he got excellent scores on the course. in fact， he ranked no. 1 on this 270 hours course in the talented student class which has 34 intelligent others. with his outstanding talent and solid mathematical background， he also did quite well in most other courses during his undergraduate study. by the way， you may wonder why his undergraduate scores look not so good compared to other chinese applicants. it is easy to explain， because he belonged to the talented student class， which were required to endure harder test papers and stricter grading than most other college students did at least at "university of minnesota". he even served as prof. linda s research assistant for one year. no one could deny his commitment to his job. as a matter of fact， prof. linda s electronic lab happened to be neighboring my office and i could always see him working in the lab， either repairing the instruments or helping prof. linda collect lab reports. maybe one more example will demonstrate his commitment more clearly. once he suggested compiling a fortran program to solve a complicated circuit problem in his class. in order to do that， he had to do a lot of computer work. however， because there were few computers available in our computer lab， he had to wake up at 5 a.m. in winter (please note: "twin city" is a downtown near the north border of china， so it is pretty cold in winter and the heating system is not working very well.) to ensure the 1st position of the long waiting line for his classmates and himself! at last he and his classmates finished the program successfully with his great efforts. as to his personality， i would like to say mr. caleb is a warm-hearted， honest and upright student. he was always ready to help others. during my lectures， many students got confused at some points and i could always see mr. caleb help them explain during breaks. in the meanwhile， i must admit that mr. caleb was a bit impatient sometimes. finally， i would like to conclude my recommendation as follows: frankly， mr. caleb is not a genius， but i promise his great intelligence， commitment to work and his kind nature will impress you deeply. thus i recommend him without reservation for his admission and financial aid to your program. please feel free to contact me if needed. sincerely yours， xxx
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