Letters of recommendation
Please finish your part of the application early
so that
you can send me the following information
a month before my letter needs to be sent:
- The exact program or job you are applying for. Provide the weblink if it exists. If you are applying for many, give me the full list, preferably all at once instead of piecemeal.
- Instructions for letter writers, if the organization provides them.
- Deadline by which my letter must be received.
- Names of your other recommenders.
- Curriculum vitae or resumé.
- Transcript, at least if you are an undergraduate (an unofficial transcript is fine).
- Weblinks to your papers, if they are on arXiv or your own website. (If not, then email me the PDFs directly, but weblinks are preferred.)
- All your other application materials (e.g., research statement, teaching statement).
- How long have I known you (in years and months), and in what capacity (e.g., undergrad taking 18.785 in Fall 2014)?
- Anything that you hope my letter will discuss, and any other information that might help me write a strong letter. Why are you a good candidate for what you are applying for?
Also, my address and phone number can be found on my webpage, so
- If it is an electronic application, fill out all the recommender information you can.
- If the letter needs to be sent by mail,
give me a stamped envelope with my name and address written
in the upper left (the return address),
and with the recipient's address written in the center.
Other things:
- If you are asked whether you waive your right to see my letter, then do waive it, because otherwise the recipient will question whether I am being honest.
- If you haven't heard from the organization or from me that my letter was sent, assume that it was not sent. Remind me a week before the deadline and a day before the deadline.
- If you are at MIT and you want me to discuss your teaching ability, then also
- Email Hailey Lloyd (hlloyd@mit.edu) in Mathematics Academic Services (with a Cc: to me) to request giving me access to your subject evaluations including detailed student comments.
- If you are teaching this semester, let me know the times and locations so that I can visit a class (if there are midterms, list those dates so that I can avoid them). It is best if I can say in my letter that you did not know which day I would visit.
- If you are not currently teaching, you might try to substitute for someone so that I can visit then.
(The reason for all these suggestions is that I write a lot of recommendation letters. For example, in 2019 I wrote letters for 52 distinct people.)
Thank you,
Bjorn Poonen