Need to write a killer scholarship recommendation letter? Looking for tips to write a scholarship recommendation letter for your student? Well, who could blame you? But fret not! We understand how hard it is to showcase a student’s strengths and abilities on a mere piece of paper for school/college/university authorities to actually understand your student well enough to admit them.

Write A Killer Scholarship Recommendation Letter for Your Student (With Example)

A scholarship recommendation letter is a significant part of a majority of scholarship applications. It showcases the capabilities, strengths and skills of your student in a precise manner. Here, we present multiple critical things that you need to take into consideration and master over time in order to write perfect scholarship recommendation letters for your students.

What is a Recommendation Letter for admission or Scholarship?

A scholarship recommendation letter plays a key role in scholarship applications. It enables the admission officers to understand your student’s personality, character and attributes, other than his or her test scores, grades of CGPA. This is because they do not get the opportunity to meet your student in person and thus, rely on this piece of paper to access your student’s eligibility.

Mostly, students seeking scholarships that require a recommendation letter ask their teacher or supervisor or any other teaching member of the school staff to write them a recommendation letter that helps them make their way in their desired institution. If you have been one of those teachers who have been asked to write a recommendation letter, then it is critical for you to understand the basics of writing an outstanding letter.

Your recommendation letter should display the strengths and abilities of your students in a great way. This is because the major purpose of your recommendation letter is to express to admission authorities that your student posses the potential to accomplish the tasks provided to him or her in a given time frame and aspires to succeed in the future. This letter additionally shows the student’s ability to create a respectful bond with a teacher or supervisor, which has enabled the supervisor to be happy enough to speak on his or her behalf.

How to Write a Recommendation Letter for a Student Scholarship or admission?

Before you start writing a scholarship recommendation letter, it is significant to know what exactly is the scholarship for. Is it for an international school/college/university or a local one? Is it for women who wish to pursue a degree in engineering? Or a minority student admitting into a technological program?

Understand what exactly are you writing a letter of recommendation so that you can fulfill the requirements of the letter. For instance; if you are writing a scholarship recommendation letter for a female student who wishes to pursue an engineering degree, you can write about her interest in physics or math and so on. Alternatively, if you are writing a letter for a scholarship that awards community involvement, you can talk about your student’s history of volunteer work and much more.

State your Experience with the Student in Letter of Recommendation

Your personal experience with the student serves as a crucial part of the recommendation letter. The admission authorities are looking for details that showcase the relationship of the student with people he or she works with such as his teacher or supervisor.

This is why it is important to include all the necessary details about your personal, studies or any other work-related relationship or experience with the student. It helps the officers understand what sort of person your student is.

You may incorporate any other meaningful encounters that happened during the time you taught the student. Do they possess leadership skills? Are they goal-oriented? Did they ever ask for help outside the class? Include all the important information here.

Enlist or enlighten Student’s Potential in Recommendation Letter

Highlight the strengths, abilities and the potential of your student to become a successful student or a person at the school/college/university they wish to attend. Talk about his or her academic performance or achievements. Write about how they manage challenges in your class. Your writing should be able to help the authorities understand why you think your student can succeed at that particular institution and how.

Let the scholarship committee know that you have a firm belief in your student and his or her capabilities. Your writing should demonstrate that.

Things to Keep in Mind while writing a Recommendation Letter

Before you accept a student’s request for writing them a recommendation letter, ask yourself if you will be able to do justice to the student by writing a positive and meaningful letter. If you think that you do not know how to write a great letter, or you do not know the student enough to write them a letter, then feel free to turn down their request as soon as possible as a poorly written letter will end up ruining their chances of getting a scholarship, and may end up doing more harm than good.

If you do not know the student well enough, then ask him or her to bring his or her resume to your office. Alternatively, you can arrange a meeting with the student and get to know more about their strengths and abilities.

It is important to know that some institutions ask the students to write a recommendation letter on their own and get it signed by their teacher or supervisor. So, if a student comes up asking you to sign a piece of paper for them, then do not be surprised at all. However, remember that you do not have to sign something that appears unrealistic to you.

Lastly, you ought to inquire the student about how and where you need to submit the letter of recommendation, or if the student can do so on their own. Ensure that you follow the correct format and writing guidelines.

Note that, your aim here is to make your student stand out from the crowd, and to present him or her as a top candidate for this scholarship award. Scholarship committees do no invest in students with poorly written recommendation letters. So, ensure that you follow every requirement that makes your letter appear punctual and professional.