Tips for a Killer MBA Recommendation Letter
It might surprise you that many applicants don’t invest enough time and attention in their MBA recommendation letters—even though these letters are among the most powerful and overlooked parts of the application. A well-crafted MBA recommendation letter can highlight your strengths in ways your essays and resume cannot.
When SBC clients ask for advice on choosing who should write their MBA recommendation letters, these are the key elements to keep in mind:
- How strongly does the recommender champion you and your MBA aspirations?
- Does the recommender have at least 3-4 meaty examples to share that demonstrate strong MBA-desirable qualities? Think leadership, interpersonal/communication skills, analytical ability, innovation mindset, team focus, integrity, etc.
- Will the recommender add dimension and valuable insights? Does the recommender have strong written communication skills?
- How open would the recommender be to input from you on the recommendation? Will he/she feel comfortable with receiving a recommender brief and/or potentially sharing a draft with you to review?
- How senior is the recommender, and/or are they an alum of the target school? These factors are less important than the actual content of the MBA recommendation letter, but they can sometimes add weight.
- Does the recommender meet the specific school’s instructions? Stanford, for example, has removed its peer recommendation option.
Taken together, these factors determine whether your MBA recommendation letters will strengthen your candidacy or fall flat.
Request a free MBA advising session with Stacy Blackman Consulting to learn how we can help you secure standout MBA recommendation letters as part of your complete MBA application.
What makes a good MBA recommendation letter?
Weigh the pros and cons of the various recommender options, recognizing that a range of perspectives is best. A good set of letters will highlight the applicant from professional, personal, and interpersonal standpoints.
Rather than submitting two highly duplicative recommendations, it can be more powerful to use recommenders who can share different perspectives/examples. It’s a bonus if the recommender(s) know the candidate across multiple areas of their life and can speak positively to them.
Applicants often think they should choose the person in their organization with the loftiest title to write their letter of recommendation for an MBA program. The truth is that a person with a fancy title who doesn’t know the applicant won’t be able to offer specific examples and anecdotes to support even the most generous platitudes. As with the client’s essays, without reasons to believe, the claims made in the reference letter, even when true, will be discounted or ignored.
For more tips, listen to B-Schooled podcast #127: How to Pick the Right Recommenders
Professionals Are Better
For top MBA programs such as Harvard Business School and the Wharton School, we favor professional recommendations. “They typically prefer two direct supervisors and it can be a risk when you cannot provide one from your current supervisor,” says a former HBS Admissions Officer on the Stacy Blackman Consulting team.
“This isn’t always realistic, but it’s the preference. The only exception to this is for the 2+2 program. Here, faculty, advisors, heads of extracurricular programs, etc. are expected for at least one of them.”
Why Specific Details Strengthen an MBA Recommendation Letter
Many recommenders—especially those unfamiliar with the MBA application process—think that if they simply sing your praises and repeat how great you are in various different ways, that will be enough. Unfortunately, it’s not. The best way for your recommenders to help you stand out from thousands of other highly qualified applicants is by painting a clear picture of who you are, both professionally and personally.
Standing out is especially crucial for traditional applicants from finance and consulting. “Use the MBA recommendation letter to show that an applicant is at the very top of their classes (rockstars!),” says a former Wharton Admissions Officer on the Stacy Blackman Consulting team.
Hear how SBC consultant Sherry, a former AdCom member at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, advises her clients about obtaining rec letters:
@stacyblackmanconsulting #MBArecommendations #SBCyourfuture ? original sound – Stacy Blackman Consulting
Sharing details of how you contributed to projects or giving specific examples of how you interacted with others or went above and beyond (including funny anecdotes or quips that give insight into your personality)—these are the things that make for a great MBA recommendation letter.
How to Ask for an MBA Recommendation Letter from Your Supervisor
Take a proactive approach to your reference letters. Sit down with each reference to tell them that a stellar recommendation letter is integral to your MBA admission chances. Also, make sure you highlight the key attributes that the recommender should try to address.
Possibilities: creative thinking, determination, focus, intelligence, charisma. Come up with at least one concrete example that you feel illustrates each characteristic. Definitely drive home the importance of going heavy on the examples.
What If You Don’t Have Enough Strong Recommenders?
Recommender quality does matter. Typically, you only need two MBA recommendation letters. If the applicant doesn’t have two quality letters, it’s possible that they are overly worried. Often, the letters can be done in the quality fashion that top MBA programs seek, but the applicant just needs reassurance. If the letters are truly poor quality, we encourage the applicant to cast a wider net for MBA programs. They might also need to reconsider their recommender choice, and/or delay an application season.
“Your recommender’s letter carries weight—think of it as a sealed message of endorsement delivered directly to the AdCom.”
How Much Guidance Is Too Much?
It’s appropriate to provide attributes, examples, and reminders to your recommenders, but writing the MBA recommendation letter for them crosses an ethical line. Admissions officers are adept at spotting overly polished or inconsistent writing styles. If a letter seems “coached” or over-edited, it raises red flags.
As one SBC consultant and former AdCom member puts it: “Admissions officers want to hear your recommender’s authentic voice. The MBA recommendation letter should reflect their perspective—not yours.”
Final Thoughts
A powerful MBA recommendation letter can be the factor that tips your application from good to great. By choosing recommenders wisely, guiding them with examples, and ensuring authenticity, you’ll give the AdCom a compelling third-party perspective on your candidacy.
Request a free MBA advising session with Stacy Blackman Consulting to learn how we can help you secure standout MBA recommendation letters and craft a complete, winning application.
Seeking additional guidance on MBA recommenders?
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
Dana
Dana served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School for the Full-Time MBA program and has over 10 years of experience working in higher education. Known as a scrupulous file reader, Dana reviewed countless applications and assisted in rendering final decisions for the Admissions Committee at CBS. While leading information sessions at Columbia and on the road, Dana met and advised myriad applicants� ...
×Holly
Holly worked as a member of the NYU Stern MBA Admissions team for seven years and holds an MBA from NYU Stern. In her tenure as Director of NYU MBA Admissions, Holly worked closely with admissions teams from Columbia, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Duke Fuqua on recruiting events domestically and internationally. On the NYU Stern admissions committee, Holly conducted interviews, planned and hosted events, and trained staff on reading and interviewi ...
×Mark
Mark has been working in global higher education for nearly ten years, focusing on MBA Admissions at European programs including Oxford Said Business School and London Business School (LBS). At the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, Mark was the Associate Director of MBA Recruitment, leading the recruitment of all applicants to the Oxford MBA and 1+1 MBA programs. In this role, Mark advised countless MBA applic ...
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