Professor Michael Meyer is with the English department in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and a faculty electus with the Frederick Honors College. His stories have appeared in New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Smithsonian, Sports Illustrated, Slate, Iowa Review, the Paris Review, and on National Public Radio’s This American Life. He has served as a reviewer for numerous prestigious awards including the Fulbright to Taiwan.
1. How should students go about choosing who would best serve as their letter writers?
Choose someone who can best speak to your curiosity, empathy, and intellectual ambition. A letter is more than a grade report; evaluators ask for them to help read between the lines of your transcript, and create a fuller portrait of your personality, abilities, and achievements.
2. What kind of information should a student be providing to their letter writers in order to get a strong letter?
It helps your letter writers to know clearly a) to what you're applying, and b) why. Rather than writing a generic "This student is great" letter, faculty can direct their responses to the desired audience. My letter for a Fulbright application will be different than one for graduate school, or an internship, or a Rhodes.
3. What would make you say no to a letter request?
Letter writing is part of a professor's job. We want you to succeed, and I mean it when I say that you're not bugging us when you ask—with the caveat that we need to be the right recommender for your application. I've never turned down a request, but I have suggested better fits: a hard-sciences professor for a medical school application, for example.
4. How should students go about cultivating relationships with faculty members who would potentially serve as letter writers?
Don't let school get in the way of your education: Make a point to talk to faculty about more than your grades. Chat before and after class or during office hours visits about the books you're reading, research topics you're considering, or career conundrums. You're not employees of a corporation, but students at our university. A conversation you start with a professor in one class can last your entire time here and even continue after graduation. My classes come with a lifetime warranty, so I'm still happily writing letters for students who have long departed Pitt.
5. How far in advance should a student be asking for a letter of recommendation?
I'm a former journalist and so am probably atypical in saying that a tight deadline doesn't faze me, and that I submit letters well before the deadline, because I know how awful it is to be waiting for confirmation that it's been submitted, and dreading sending a nudging email, asking a recommender if they've forgotten me (clearly because they loathe the thought of recommending me, not because they have families and full-time jobs) . But it's better to give a heads-up at least two weeks in advance, so we can chat about to what you're applying, why, who else you might ask, and how I can best sing your praises for these particular reviewers. If we can't chat, then send a bullet-pointed email, identifying things you'd like to be included in the letter. And if the deadline is approaching, don't hesitate to nudge. Really.