The Heller Ph.D. in Social Policy

Letters of Recommendation

Applicants to the doctoral program must submit three letters of recommendation representing their professional and academic lives. At least one reference should be from someone able to evaluate the applicant’s academic abilities, preferably from a former teacher. Recommendations should address the applicant’s abilities to be analytic, reflective, and to express ideas, orally and in writing.

Applicants must complete the top section of the Recommendation Form, waiving or not waiving their right to view the letter, and give the form to their referrer. The referrer may then complete the remainder of the recommendation form and send it to the admissions office with a letter that describes how long they have known the applicant and addresses the applicant’s readiness for an intensive graduate program.

All letters should be printed on official letterhead or include the referrer’s official business card.

To guarantee that the letter of recommendation arrives in a timely manner, your referrer can email or fax the form and letter directly to the Heller Admissions Office in addition to mailing the original. While an email or fax is sufficient for review purposes, the original form and letter are required to finalize any offer of admission. We cannot accept emailed letters of recommendation sent from Yahoo, Hotmail, or other public domains.

Letters may be sent directly to the Admissions Office or may be included with the complete application package as long as the original signed and sealed referrer’s envelope has not been opened.

Submit the letters of recommendation to: