Recommenders Instructions Sets:
Help your recommenders help you!
Recommenders do not have an easy task
When you make the decision to apply to business school, you soon recognize the amount of work involved. Are you aware of how much work your applications will require from your recommenders?
When you’re applying to many schools, the ‘favor’ you’ve asked of your recommenders soon balloons out to mammoth proportions. Your recommenders will need to jump through a bunch of hoops in order to submit their reference letters for you:
- Some schools let them upload a file; other schools require that the recommender type directly into fields on the school’s online form.
- Some schools allow for three pages or more in a written recommendation; other schools only permit two, or have specific word counts.
- Some schools ask identical questions, yet your recommenders won’t know that until they dig into each school’s online system to discover it.
- Even worse: Some schools ask almost identical questions!! Which variation is important? Where can a recommender re-use an answer?
Even if you’re applying to one school, the phrasing of the questions that recommenders must answer is not always clear.
and they’re not going to get any better.
So what is your school doing this year?
Click to view the variations of questions that different schools are askingHere’s info 2020 MBA apps for the Class of 2023.
1 Standardized MBA Recommender Questions Version 1
- Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization.
- How does the applicant’s performance compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?)
- Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
- (Optional) Is there anything else we should know?
This PDF with all the “standard” requirements (ha!) which schools claim they’ve adopted.
A variation of that first set of standard questions is also being used:
2 Standardized MBA Recommender Questions Version 2
- How does the applicant’s performance, potential, background, or personal qualities compare to those of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples.
- Please describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
As you can see, they’re similar… but not identical. It’s confusing! Supply your recommenders with some guidance!
Other schools ask a set of questions that are similar to the standard questions, but they’ve complicated things by asking other stuff that’s different.
And then there are schools like Wharton and Duke Fuqua and a few others who ask their own separate different questions. The MBA Questions by School page shows when this is the case.
EssaySnark’s Recommenders’ Instructions Sets
The EssaySnark Recommender’s Instruction Sets help with these two issues that can get in the way of your recommender writing a strong recommendation:
- Which schools ask the same questions – where can an answer be reused?
- What does the school really want in an answer – what makes for a good response for what they are asking?
Pricing starts at $70 for two schools
If you’re applying to three or more schools, you really need this. EssaySnark’s Recommender Instruction Sets helps your recommenders as much as possible – without crossing any ethical lines.
You already know our stance on writing your own letters of recommendation (don’t do it). The Recommender Instruction Sets are for you to give to your recommenders – we do not condone applicants writing recommendations themselves. That would be a very bad call on your behalf; the schools will reject you if they discover you have done that. EssaySnark reserves the right to cancel any client engagements with no refund if we discover unethical behavior such as this (this policy is covered in the Terms of Services you agree to when using our services).
The Recommender Instruction Sets include expert advice to your recommenders – written by EssaySnark – explaining how to handle the exact questions in a way that will give the schools useful input into your background and experiences (don’t worry, it’s not snarky). The Recommender Instruction Sets are a tool to help you get better recommendations, by helping the recommenders know what to focus on and how to present info on your performance.
Also available is our Letters of Recommendation App Accelerator to help you (the applicant) strategize on the best recommenders for you to choose, based on your circumstances and specifics of your profile.
The Recommender Instruction Sets is a win-win-win: Your recommender’s job is easier, you get better recommendations, and the schools get more useful information to consider as part of your application.
Here’s what one former Brave Supplicant reported after getting admitted to their top choice schools:
How it works
- Buy the Recommender Instruction Sets for two schools minimum, up to five schools total. You will specify which schools you want the Instruction Sets to cover. You must order all schools together; you cannot break up your order into multiple purchases.
Currently supported are the 16 U.S. schools listed here though some schools not on the list also have standardized questions (e.g., IESE in Spain is one and there’s others as well). If you are applying to multiple schools tagged with the icon, then to save money, you can buy the Instruction Sets for one of them — but then it will only be tailored to the one that you buy for.
- Within 2 business days of payment, you will receive your customized Recommender’s Instruction Set as a PDF of guidelines and best practices for your recommenders. This will be emailed to your PayPal email address.
- You will provide your recommenders with the Recommender’s Instruction Set when you are ready for them to start writing recommendations. You may also want provide them with your own prep packet that you have developed, with your resume or other background information on your work experience, projects, and performance that you feel may be useful to them in writing about you. We caution you against providing too much content though. Coach your recommenders on the importance of writing the recommendations themselves; tell them not to copy in what you provide.
What you get
The Recommender’s Instruction Sets is more than just a list of the questions; it is a detailed step-by-step personalized guide, organized and optimized for efficiency. It guides your recommender on what angles to cover for each question your schools ask, with an emphasis on providing the examples and details that the adcoms need to see.
What it costs
- 1 or 2 schools: $70 (minimum order)
- 3 schools: $110
- 4 schools: $180
- 5 schools: $270 (priced higher because these are significantly more involved)
Adding schools to the set is a non-linear increase in the amount of effort required by the ‘Snark to produce it for you, so that’s why pricing goes up so much for the larger quantities. You must order all schools together in one purchase. We will not honor multiple orders of this product per person.
Your Instruction Sets will be tailored to the specific schools you name. You will get one document that tells your recommenders which order to do the schools in to streamline their process, and then explains how to reuse what they write for the first school on their second school, etc. Please note that there are NO REFUNDS; once you purchase, we start working on the analysis required to produce your custom order.
Order your Recommender’s Instruction Sets now and make sure your recommenders do a good job for you!
Hear what others say
Did you get the Recommender’s Instruction Sets? What do you think – will they help your recommenders? What did your recommenders say about them? Please offer some comments on whether it was useful or not.
Submit your review | |
Thank you for the very insightful feedback and comments, it is well received.
I received a 5-school recommendation set and it was 18-pages!! The guide was thorough and provided the recommender with a detailed plan. My favorite part was their guide on which school to tackle first.
Of all the many great things I bought from Snarks, I’d rate this 3.5-stars. While comprehensive, the set felt overwhelming. I ended up re-purposing the material and condensing it to 1-page.
If your recommender has never written MBA letters before, you might find this product more helpful!
Very detailed, step-by-step instructions that are going to make your recommender’s life easier. Get this guide early on and send it to your recommenders and you won’t have to worry about a thing as the deadline approaches. It worked well for me; one of my recommenders followed the instructions carefully and he produced a high quality letter. The other recommender pretty much relied on me to read it and provide feedback but still helpful. For this price, you won’t regret it.
I already had a memo for my recommenders outlining the steps in the process and the questions, but I thought I would buy this since this is one of my recommenders first MBA recommendations. This guide is extremely helpful especially if your recommender is busy. It gives him or her a step by step process on what recommendation to start with and how to move forward through the process. Definitely worth the money!
I am a military candidate, so my supervisors who I chose to write recommendations for me have no experience writing business school LORs. This service broke down how to approach the process and what to emphasize in each letter depending on the school, enabling my supervisors to focus on key elements.
This product is highly recommended, and especially so if you'e a non-traditional candidate like me!
This instruction set gives you the guideline specifically tailored to the schools you indicate to be covered, and by covered I mean covered EXTENSIVELY and IN DETAIL.
It was really helpful especially when I was developing ideas with my recommenders about what I hope to include in the letters. As this instruction tells you what skillsets or qualities are highly valued by each school, it really made it easy for me and my recommender to quickly dig up stories that fit those criteria.
I strongly recommend this service to those who are seeking the most effective way to guide their recommenders. With this service, you are good to go in terms of recommendation letters.
As with all things essaysnark, I never realize how in over my head I am with this whole application process till I sit down with one of their guides. This recommendation set was particularly useful to me, as it served 2 purposes - it helped both me and my recommender dig up stories we wouldn't have considered, had the right question not been asked in the guide.
And it makes the recommenders life so much easier, with step by step directions that are pretty exhaustive.
Very helpful, since I was applying to more than 1 school without the "standardized" recommendation question set. I was trying to compile them myself and highlight the similar questions between schools, but lacked confidence mostly, on how to best present it to my recommenders (I had my stuff on an excel table). The PDF was really professional, and told them which recs to write first, and made a few suggestions on length and general comments on how to write, what not to do, etc. It gave me more confidence in my recommendations... My bosses are also not experienced in writing these, so I'm betting this was helpful for them