What is a graduate school letter of recommendation?
Like professional references during a job search, letters of recommendation help support your graduate school application by providing a third-party view of your ability to perform well in graduate school.
First, here is how ASU asks for letters of recommendation.
You will be asked as part of your application for graduate admission to provide the names and contact information for individuals who can write and submit a letter of recommendation for you. Many academic programs ask for three, and some will indicate the backgrounds they want for recommenders (e.g., a current or former professor). You will see this information in the application, but you can also review it in Degree Search.
When you submit your application and application fee, your recommenders will receive notification that they have been asked to electronically submit a recommendation. Let your recommender know that they should receive an email from ASU — you don’t want this to end up in their spam or junk folder.
You will be able to monitor the status of the recommendation through My ASU and prompt any recommenders who have not submitted their recommendation. You will be able to change a recommender if necessary.