Letters of Recommendation

Here are items that help me write a stronger letter:

  • How you prefer to be named and which pronouns you’d like me to use when I talk about you and your work in my letter
  • The class you took with me, the quarter & year, and the final grade you received
  • Resume
  • Unofficial transcript
  • A list of the programs you are applying for and each one’s due date, program title, and website
  • Anything you have written as part of your application. (For example, do you have anything that explains your goals? Your background experiences that have prepared you for the program?). 
  • What are two things you’ve learned or done in the our course that will help you in the program you are applying for that I can discuss in the letter? (It can be brief, and can connect with something you wrote about for an assignment, an idea you had while taking the class, or anything else.)
  • Do I have permission to share personal stories, contents of papers & discussion board posts, etc? Feel free to be specific about what information I may and may not share.
  • Anything you would like this letter to focus on, to either balance out or build on other parts of you application
  • Anything else that you think will help me write the best possible letter for you.

These items are all optional. I look forward to receiving whatever you choose to send me.

Once the entire process has been completed (6-12 months from now), I would love to hear from you how it went! I’d love an email from you with the results of the application process, whatever the result happened to be, and your plans (which program you ended up going to, what your next steps are, etc.).

Professor Aufrecht

Here are some of the criteria I look for when writing a letter of recommendation:

  1. Did the student complete all assignments on time? (This includes using free passes when applicable, and communicating with me in cases of emergency.)
  2. Did the student read the directions before asking for clarification or an exception? (For example, did the student read the course late policy before asking for an extension? Did the student complete the course pages in order, as directed)?
  3. Did the student accurately describe the views of authors and facts of cases being discussed? (for Discussion Board posts, essays, definitions)
  4. Did the student respond to other students with respectful language, and discuss the course material with respectful language, avoiding harm to others? (This doesn’t mean avoiding hard topics: rather it means addressing hard topics using the tools of philosophy.)
  5. Did the student cite all sources, always tell the truth and follow the highest standards of academic integrity, including the Bellevue College academic code of conduct?
  6. Did the student present well-organized valid arguments, with evidence for claims, and did the student avoid using logical fallacies in their writing?
  7. Did the student consider and accurately describe multiple points of view, especially those views the student ultimately disagreed with? Did the student present compelling objections those views?
  8. Did the student bring new ideas that are creative, thoughtful, and interesting to the conversation, and move the conversation forward in important and compelling ways? (For Discussion Board posts and essays)
  9. Did the student incorporate feedback well, and improve the quality of their work over time based on feedback received (both from the instructor and from other students)?