If we’ve worked together before, contact me privately (e.g. staff Slack) and we’ll write a letter together.

If we’ve never worked together before (e.g. you were a student in a class I taught), then the best I can provide is a generic template letter, containing:

• A description of the content in any relevant classes (e.g. the class I taught)
• A disclaimer that class sizes are large so I don’t know any individual students
• A statement that we’ve never worked together (and maybe your grade in the class if you want)

Disclaimers/advice:

• A letter from somebody who knows you and has worked with you will almost certainly be stronger than a generic template letter. Before asking me, I’d first suggest trying to find somebody else who knows you better (e.g. from research, a smaller class, etc.).
• If we’ve never worked together, I can’t answer any of the usual prompts in a recommendation letter, e.g. “how you know the applicant,” “what their strengths and weaknesses are,” “whether they would be a good fit.” I can’t make any promises about how an admissions committee would interpret a letter that ignores the prompts.
• I don’t have the time to make individualized changes to the template letter, so please don’t ask. Others might be able to write something more individualized, so you could check with others before asking me.
• If I need to fill out a recommendation form with additional questions, I’ll leave all optional fields blank, and I’ll answer “see recommendation letter” for all mandatory fields except the recommendation letter field. For mandatory multiple-choice questions like “rate this applicant’s technical aptitude”, I’ll answer with the midpoint plus one (e.g. if the scale is 1 for worst and 10 for best, I’ll put 6/10 for everything).

Sorry if this process feels a little uncharitable; I get a lot of requests every year, including many from students I don’t recognize, and this is the best system I’ve been able to come up with that generates letters equitably without taking an impractical amount of time and effort on my end.

Template

To request a letter of rec, fill out this form with the information you want to be substituted into the template letter.

Descriptions of each field:

• I acknowledge that this is a generic template letter, and I have read and understand all the disclaimers: Put “Yes” here to confirm that you have read over this entire page and understand all the disclaimers/warnings.
• Full name: For the first mention of your name.
• First name: For all future mentions of your name.
• Relevant classes: Assuming you were a student in a class I taught, list the class/classes here. If that’s not the case, describe how we’ve worked together here.
• If you want me to include your grade in the class, list the grade(s) here. You can also put “N/A” here if you don’t want me to include any information about grades.
• Name of program: Exactly what you want in the letter. If you want a university/organization name, it can also go here, e.g. “5th year MS program at UC Berkeley”. List exactly one program per form submission, and I’ll generate one letter per submission/program.
• Do you need a copy: If the letter needs to be submitted on my end (e.g. through an application portal), put “No”. If you need a PDF copy of the letter to submit yourself, put “Yes”.

After sending the information, you can send recommendation requests. Notes:

• If you need me to email the letter to somebody, include the email address I should send the letter to, and and any information I need to include in the email (e.g. your name, some application ID number, etc.).
• If the recommendation portal needs my personal information, you can give my email address, but do not distribute or ask for my address or phone number. (Use your own address or phone number if needed.)