Toni Bowers - Letters of Recommendation

To: Students requesting Letters of Recommendation
From: Prof. Toni Bowers

I am delighted to write letters of recommendation for students who have done well in my courses. I spend considerable time on each of these letters, and am as specific as possible about each student’s performance and abilities. I write letters regularly throughout the year, for both undergraduates and graduate students, and also for faculty at Penn and elsewhere. I write letters in order -- first come, first served.

Because I get dozens of requests for letters each year, I’ve put together this “handout” to give important information to students who may not have been through this process before.

Before I can say yes to your request, I need to receive from you all your GRADED work from the class you took with me. (Not just re-printed work; I will not have time to re- grade your work at this point.) If you do not have your graded work, I will be able to write only a general letter, which is probably not what the admissions or hiring committee is looking for.

I also need to know from you:

When is the letter due? I can’t normally get a letter written and in the mail at short notice during semesters when I am teaching, advising, serving on University committees, and carrying out research. Please allow at least a0one month between the date your letter is due and the date you ask me to write it. Please do not ask for a letter that you need right away (ie, within 2 weeks).
Will you be using Penn’s Career Services office? I strongly recommend that you do so. The recommendation process is streamlined there, and the output is professional-looking and prompt. When you use Career Services (ground floor, McNeil building), each of your faculty letter-writers can write just one letter and have it sent to multiple recipients.
Because this service exists at Penn, please do not ask me to re-print and re- send a letter multiple times. Please do not feel that because you need only a few letters, it will be easier if you just give me the addressed envelopes directly. I will not be responsible for keeping envelopes, forms, and deadlines organized. Use the Career Services office.
Alternatively, will you be using Interfolio or another web-based service determined by the institution you’re applying to? That is fine, I use it these databases all the time. However, you must still be sure that you have filled in as much information as you possibly can. (See 4 and 5, below)
Career Services or Interfolio will give you forms that need to be attached to my letter. Please fill out the forms as completely as possible yourself, including not only your own information but also my name, rank (Associate Professor), the English dept address and phone number, etc. The English website has all the information you will need. I should be able merely to write my letter, sign it and record the date. Filling in the requested contact information is your responsibility.
If you are requesting an on-line letter of recommendation, please get on the website yourself and determine precisely what has to be done for letters to be posted. Whenever possible, send me a link to the exact place where letters are to be uploaded. In every case, please send me exact instructions, not just the names of the programs you’re applying to or the program website addresses. Many of you know that I work with physical disabilities; I can’t troll websites to find out where my letter is supposed to go.

Thanks for following these guidelines, and my very best wishes for your success!

Toni Bowers