Sample LORs for UG, MS and MBA Programs

Why LORs Differ Across levels of Study

“An LOR is an LOR – a third party perspective of your candidature – irrespective of the degree level I am applying to. So, why do LORs differ across different levels of study”? Now, that would be a reasonable question. Our answer: Some things, such as who the recommender is, your relationship to them, how long and in what capacity they’ve known you, their comments on your academic, professional or interpersonal abilities may remain constant across all levels of study. However, their focus area will vary depending upon the degree level you are applying for. That’s so because what makes a candidate stand out at one level may not be as relevant at another. To explain further, if you’re a 17 or 18- year old undergraduate applicant, you wouldn’t have any professional experience (except, in rare cases, a short internship or two). So, what would make you stand out amongst equally competent fellow-applicants whose academic credentials may be as great (or maybe even better) than yours? In such cases, it would be skills like your initiative taking ability, leadership in schools clubs, community service involvement, excellence in Sports or any unique passion. Similarly, expectations from an MS applicant from a technical line of study would be subject-matter expertise, research aptitude, analytical thinking etc. A mid-career MBA applicant, with possibly 2-5 years of experience, would be expected to showcase skills around leadership, collaboration, conflict/crisis management, resilience, decision making under pressure, integrity etc.

Understanding these distinctions is crucial for the recommender (and also for the applicant, if they are asked by the recommender to give inputs) as it helps them tailor LORs in a way so as to highlight qualities that matter most at each stage.

Choosing the Right Recommender

Selecting the right person to recommend you is important. Make your choice based on how well they know you, how closely they have observed you in academic / work settings over a meaningful period of time, and if they can back up their praise (highlighting your abilities, character, and academic/professional/personal growth) with specific examples. The more personalized their insights, the more impactful and credible the LOR would be. Do not be tempted to get your LORs written by recommenders with big names alone. For instance, it is better to take an LOR from your teacher who has observed you on different fronts (classroom interactions, projects and possible even some paper presentations) rather than from your Principal who may, at best, know you cursorily through the eyes of your teacher. If, however, the Principal has observed you first-hand, go ahead. In another context, it is better to take an LOR from your immediate manager who you have interacted with on a daily basis, for 12 months, rather than from the CEO who may have seen you only on one occasion, such as a final paper presentation, but has not directly observed your day-to-day performance, growth or contributions.

Depending on the degree level you are applying for, here’s a general guideline on who to choose: –

1. LOR for Undergraduate admission applications, teachers, Principal, school counselors, or mentors who have witnessed your academic performance and personal development are the best fit. They can highlight your intellectual curiosity, ability to collaborate with classmates and contributions outside the classroom.

2. LOR for Master’s admission applications, professors, research advisors, or internship supervisors, who are familiar with your technical skills, academic ability & research potential, make strong recommenders.

3. LOR for MBA admission applications, current or former managers, team leads, or senior colleagues who can attest to your professional achievements, leadership qualities, teamwork, and problem-solving skills are great choices. If you’ve been working in your current job for a reasonable length of time, it is preferable to get an LOR from a current manager / supervisor. If, however, that is not possible for various reasons, get it from a former supervisor but ensure that the relationship with the latter is relatively recent (not too old), and try to explain your choice of recommender in an additional essay / interview, if possible.

Now that we are familiar with the key foundational points, let’s move to the heart of the matter – sample LORs for different academic stages of your educational journey. Remember that, although formats may look similar, the focus of an LOR should be in accordance with what that program values in applicants. To help you understand better, I’ll share both a “good example” and a “bad example” for each LOR category. Please note that none of these “sample LORs” will be complete in itself; they are only excerpts to help you understand not just “what to do” but also “what to avoid”; the latter will be useful if you’re giving inputs to your recommender.

Sample LORs for UG Admissions

Undergraduate Admissions

Example of a Bad UG LOR

To Whom It May Concern,

It is my absolute pleasure and distinct honor to pen this enthusiastic endorsement of Shivani Gupta for undergraduate matriculation at your illustrious academic institution. As her instructor in the arcane discipline of Mathematics during Grade 12 at Genesis Global School, I have been privy to Shivani’s relentless curiosity and strong analytical skills. Throughout our cerebral engagements, she was perpetually a focused and attentive student. He earned an ‘A’ in the Theory of Computation course. Her SGPA is 8.6 for the semester, and she has consistently been among the top five achievers in the class.

He/she seamlessly amalgamates commendable multitasking dexterity with exemplary leadership skills. A paragon of humility, she remains a good listener and receives constructive criticism with an enviable receptivity and grace.

What’s “Bad” about this LOR content – Did you notice?

1. The most striking flaw in this LOR is excessive use of high-flown, thesaurus-heavy language. It sounds like a desperate attempt to try and impress the reader but what it actually does is sound insincere and impersonal. It deflects the reader’s attention from Shivani’s qualities to the writer’s choice of words.

2. There are lots of praises – “relentless curiosity”, “strong analytical skills”, “focused and attentive student”, “good multitasking skills”, “exemplary leadership skills”, “good listener”, and “receptivity to constructive criticism”. However, none of these compliments have been substantiated with a specific situation/context. Did the recommender even have those interactions where they found Shivani to have all these qualities? Without substantiation, the LOR sounds extremely unconvincing and insincere.

3. The recommender has been inconsistent in how they address the applicant as “he”, “she” and “they”. This shows carelessness on the recommender’s part, which in turn shows that the recommender doesn’t care enough about the applicant; this doesn’t speak well of their relationship. Worse still, the recommender says “he/she”, which clearly shows they don’t even know who they are recommending.

Example of a Good Sample LOR

It is my absolute pleasure to recommend Shivani Gupta for undergraduate studies at your esteemed institution. As Shivani’s Mathematics teacher in Grade 12 at Genesis Global School, I have observed her relentless curiosity and strong analytical skills firsthand. During our interactions, I noticed that her ability to apply theoretical concepts to real-world problems is truly exceptional. For instance, in our unit on probability and statistics, Shivani designed a data model to predict the outcome of school-level sports matches. She integrated real-world data with concepts like conditional probability and regression, which was well beyond the standard curriculum.

Shivani’s consistent academic performance was not deterred by her leadership of our school’s Robotics Club where she successfully led a team of 15 students to design innovative projects that competed at the state level. Further, she brought laurels to the school by securing a top 5 rank in the national mathematics Olympiad. More importantly, she is compassionate, always willing to help her peers by often staying back after class to explain difficult concepts. She also carries herself with humility that endears her to both teachers and classmates.

Apart from being diligent in academics, Shivani has also been actively involved in various extracurricular activities such as community tutoring programs and organizing the annual inter-school science fest. She is a passionate sportsperson and has brought laurels to our school in various interschool Basketball tournaments. Her participation in such a variety of activities, and sustaining her top position in class academically speak volumes about her excellent time management and resilience in balancing all her obligations. I believe this capability will be beneficial while Shivani pursues her intended UG program at your university. Besides her academic focus, her strong interpersonal skills will also ensure that she significantly contributes to the academic community at your university.

I wish her the best in all her academic endeavours and life ahead.

Sincerely,
Mr. Rajeev Kumar
Mathematics Teacher
Genesis Global School, Noida

Sample LORs for MS Admissions

Example of a Bad Academic LOR for MS

Dear Admissions Committee,

I am pleased to write this letter in support of Ruturaj Mohalkar’s application to your MS in Data Science program. Ruturaj demonstrated exceptional academic abilities in both courses I taught him. He scored outstanding marks in Fundamentals of Data Structures, placing in the top 10% of his class. He deeply understood complex concepts and consistently implemented them in his coursework and projects. In the final year, he worked on an industry-based project. I was the project guide and saw him work meticulously throughout the project. In addition to his academics, Ruturaj actively engaged in extracurricular and co-curricular activities, which significantly contributed to his overall development. He has been focused on academics, and his dedication towards his academic goals is commendable and inspiring. One of the most remarkable aspects of Ruturaj’s journey has been his personal growth. When he began his undergraduate studies, he came across as very confident. He never faltered on the project deadlines and was always a highly motivated and dedicated student of his batch.

What’s “bad” about it?

1. “Ruturaj demonstrated exceptional academic abilities in both courses I taught him” – what are those courses?

2. “He deeply understood complex concepts” – complex topics such as?

3. “…and consistently implemented them in his coursework and projects” – implemented them, but how? The recommender does mention that Ruturaj worked on an “industry-based project”, but gives no details of how Ruturaj implemented those “complex concepts” in that project. What was the project about? Surely, a recommender who has been Ruturaj’s “project guide” should know all this.

4. The recommender talks about Ruturaj’s “active engagement in extracurricular and co-curricular activities, which significantly contributed to his overall development”. What sort of “overall development” was visible in Ruturaj?

5. The recommender has decided to talk about academics, then about extra-curricular involvement, then again about academics, and then once again about personal growth – all of it in the same paragraph. He seems to be jumping back and forth between repetitive points, without any validation for his observations.

Example of a Good Sample LOR

Dear Admissions Committee,

I am pleased to write this letter in support of Ruturaj Mohalkar’s application to your MS in Data Science program. I witnessed his exceptional academic abilities in both courses I taught him – Fundamentals of Data Structures and Design and Analysis of Algorithms. In both subjects, Ruturaj consistently ranked among the top 10% of the class. He demonstrated a strong grasp of theoretical concepts and showcased his problem-solving skills through meticulously written assignments and efficient, optimized code submissions.

I have also supervised his final-year project, ‘Optimizing Warehouse Operations Using Predictive Analytics’. The project aim was to develop a predictive model that forecasts inventory demand and delivery timelines using historical data, thereby optimizing stock levels, minimizing waste, and improving overall warehouse efficiency. He independently explored advanced Python libraries and implemented a working prototype using Snowflake and GCP. His solution to optimizing warehouse operations using time-series forecasting was one of the most innovative I have seen in recent years. While he demonstrated a strong hold over technicalities of the project, and consistently met deadlines, he also helped peers troubleshoot their models. I am confident that his spirit of collaboration and teamwork will help him thrive in graduate studies and contribute to the classroom in meaningful ways.

Sample LORs for MBA Admissions

Example of a Bad LOR

It is my privilege to recommend Piyush Jain for admission to your MBA program. I have worked with Piyush for over three years at Zypher Analytics, where he currently leads the Data Platform Modernization Initiative, a cross-functional effort aimed at transforming our real-time data infrastructure to better support product, analytics, and business intelligence teams.

In his role as a Senior Backend Developer, Piyush consistently demonstrated exceptional technical expertise. He single-handedly redesigned the data ingestion pipeline using Apache Kafka, transitioning from a batch-based model to a streaming-first architecture. He also optimized the latency of the ETL process by over 40% through advanced use of Snowflake’s dynamic SQL capabilities and asynchronous job queues. Piyush’s Python-based microservices were built on a Dockerized architecture and deployed seamlessly on AWS Lambda via our CI/CD pipeline, where he introduced Terraform for infrastructure-as-code. His knowledge of OOP principles, memory optimization, and high-performance concurrent systems is among the best I’ve seen in my 18 years of engineering management.

Why is it a “Bad” LOR for MBA

1. This LOR would have been great for MS Admissions because it showcases deep technical competence and mastery over domain-specific tools, which is critical for success in a technical graduate program. But for MBA, Adcoms may not understand or care about tools & technologies like Apache Kafka, Snowflake or Terraform.

2. They are more interested in how & where the candidate has demonstrated leadership. Nowhere does it mention Piyush’s ability to manage people, communicate with stakeholders, or drive business outcomes.

3. In this LOR, Piyush seems to come across as an individual contributor – a red flag for a program that values cross-functional influence and team dynamics.

4. Also, there is no mention of Piyush’s ability to think strategically. There is no business judgment, decision-making, or leadership under uncertainty.

An Example of a Good LOR

In his role as a Senior Backend Developer, Piyush consistently demonstrated an ability to bridge technical excellence with strategic thinking. When we faced significant delays in our data processing workflow, Piyush not only proposed a new architecture but also led the cross-functional effort to implement it. He collaborated with product managers to understand business priorities, coordinated with QA and DevOps teams to ensure a smooth rollout, and ultimately helped reduce processing time by 40%, enabling faster decision-making across departments. What stood out was not just his technical expertise, but his ability to align engineering improvements with broader business objectives.

Piyush has also shown a natural inclination for mentorship and team leadership. He onboarded two new hires, created internal documentation for complex systems, and ran weekly knowledge-sharing sessions for the team. Beyond his technical responsibilities, he frequently stepped into discussions with clients and business stakeholders to translate technical possibilities into commercially viable solutions.