# How Do Letter(s) of Recommendation Work for Graduate Film Schools?



## JCAGBA (Jul 16, 2020)

This might seem like a dumb question, but considering that I have no idea what I am doing I figured I would ask. 
I just reached out to a couple of professors that I had at Emerson College. I was enrolled in their Professional Studies program and graduated with a Digital Media Certificate this past April. One of my professors circled back and agreed to write me a letter of recommendation. In her email to me, she asked me the following:

*"Would you prefer I write them to specific institutions and programs? Or do you need something more generic?"*

The six schools that I plan on applying (USC, UCLA, ArtCenter, NYU, Columbia and Emerson). On some of their websites there was no mention of letters of recommendation being written out to a specific institution. But, remembering my past experiences applying to colleges for Undergrad, some of the letters of recommendation that I would ask from my teachers would be tailored to specific schools. 

So my overall question to the forum is the following: *Should I ask my professor to tailor her letter of recommendation for me to a specific school (I would hate to ask her to write six different letters to the six different schools that I am applying to), or should I just ask her to write me one generic letter? *

Again, there might be an obvious answer to this question, but I figured I would ask. 

Thank you.


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## jonvaljon69 (Sep 20, 2020)

Did you ever get an answer? Very interested in this as well


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## JCAGBA (Oct 8, 2020)

No, but I ended up asking my Emerson professor and she recommended just requesting from your professors an overall general letter.


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## Asar (Oct 8, 2020)

Glad your professor gave you an answer. I am by no means a professional so I am giving you advice based on what I did.

I only applied to two institutions and had the same three people write letters for both. For the letters, I picked themes that correlated to what grad schools/film schools might look for in strong candidates. So one letter spoke from the perspective of a supervisor and it showcased my hard work, persistence through struggle, and teamwork. Another letter came from a teacher and discussed my creative talents, leadership, and how I was able to leave an impact. My last letter came from a professor who talked about my enthusiasm to learn outside of the classroom and the ways I made up for being out of school for so long (self-learning things about film in prep for grad school).

In all of the letters, they usually only mentioned the school and program in the opening or closing paragraph. Something along the lines of "I highly recommend blah blah for this school and this program". Therefore, the only alterations they'd have to make would be to that line if they have to submit the letters themselves. I also mitigated any risk of sending the wrong letter by adding to the notes of the link being sent to them what school and program this was for.

I think asking my recommenders to speak on specific themes alleviated me from getting three general, fluff letters and makes it easier to use at different institutions because they each show different sides to you. I tailored the letters to me vs. tailoring them to the schools, but USC emphasizes wanting to know who YOU are so much that I really followed that through. Other schools might not have that same emphasis.

Hope this idea helps.


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