Letters of recommendation

This is information for students who plan to ask for a letter of recommendation for one (or several) Master or PhD-Programs, or scholarships.

Please contact me by email. Provide the full information listed below. Do allow for sufficient time between contacting me and the first deadline (6 weeks). This makes sure that we can meet in person beforehand and discuss your plans, if necessary.

Also, please, plan carefully. That is, make up your mind to which programs you will be applying BEFORE you contact me the first time. If you are unsure which programs could be suitable, we can talk. Just stop by at my office hours.

What you should include in your request

In the text of the email:

  1. A list of all the programs to which you plan to apply. The letter will be written once and sent to all programs on the same day.
  2. The application deadline for each of these.
  3. Where to send the letter (email adress, mailing adress, website).

A pdf attachment of the following (bundle all documents, only one file):

  1. Your curriculum vitae.
  2. Your current Bonn transcript and a transcript from any earlier degrees.
  3. A motivation letter (why apply for those programs?).
  4. The self-assessment form, filled in (follow this link to the form)
  5. A photo would be helpful (but is not mandatory; nothing fancy; a snapshot would do;  just so that I can associate a face with the request)

Next to this, help the letter writer as much as you can:

  1. Some universities ask letter writers to fill in forms that rank the students in their cohort. Provide all of these forms with your first email.
  2. Fill in the forms as much as you can (applicant’s address, letter writer’s address, and the like).
  3. Attach all the forms in the format place_program_form.pdf (say Bonn_MasterEcon_form). Bundle all the forms needed for each program in one pdf file.