Letters of Recommendation

Stories about your behaviors, impact, and personal qualities told by others play an essential role in our evaluation of your application.

Your letters of recommendation should provide specific examples and anecdotes that illustrate what you have done and how you have done it.

Required: Two letters of recommendation. One recommendation from your current direct supervisor (or next best alternative) at work, and one recommendation from someone else who has supervised you.

Both letters of recommendation must be submitted by the deadline of the round in which you apply. You must not have any involvement in the drafting, writing, translation, or submission of the letters, including having any outside party review or edit the letters before they are submitted.

First Recommendation

Current Direct Supervisor or Next Best Alternative

You must obtain at least one recommendation from your current direct supervisor. We understand, however, that you may be in a situation that prevents you from providing a recommendation from your current direct supervisor. For example, you may:

Be self-employed
Work for a family business in which a family member is your supervisor
Have begun a new position where your direct supervisor does not know you well
Have not notified your direct supervisor that you are applying to business school
Be a student

If you are unable to provide a letter from your current direct supervisor, use your judgment in finding an alternative source for your recommendation: a previous supervisor, an indirect manager, a client, a member of your board of directors, or any other individual who supervises your work.

If you don't have full-time work experience, you may use a direct supervisor from a summer, part-time, or internship position. Alternatively, you may ask someone who managed you in an extracurricular, research, volunteer, or community activity.

Second Recommendation

Someone Else Who Has Supervised You

The strongest recommendations typically come from your workplace. You may select a recommendation from your professional, community, or extracurricular experiences. Having two recommendations from the same organization is fine. We recognize that work environments are fluid, so we give you the option of choosing the individual who can best represent your potential impact.

Choosing Your Recommenders

We are impressed by what a recommendation letter says, not by the title or background of the individual who wrote it or the writing skills of the recommender. You should choose individuals who:

Know you well through significant, direct involvement with you within the last three years
Will provide detailed anecdotes and examples to support their assertions
Are sufficiently enthused to spend time writing a thoughtful letter

Deferred Enrollment

If you are currently a full-time student, we encourage you to select recommenders who have supervised your extracurricular activities or work, such as internships or part-time jobs.

What We Ask Recommenders

Both of your recommenders will be asked to assess you on some character traits and competencies that contribute to successful leadership and to answer three questions.

MBA Letters of Recommendation 2023–2024

A Few Words of Advice

More Is Not Better

While we know there are people excited about you who may want to submit unofficial letters of recommendation, additional letters are neither necessary nor encouraged. The overwhelming majority of successful applicants do not submit any additional materials. If someone submits an additional letter of recommendation, we cannot guarantee it will be considered.

Language for Recommendations

Your letters of recommendation must be submitted in English. For recommendations from non-native English speakers, we will ignore minor syntax or grammar errors or awkward phrasing. However, it may be to your advantage to have your recommender write the letter in his/her native language and then have it translated into English.

Their Words, Not Yours

Your recommenders must be the sole authors of your letters of recommendation. Drafting, writing, translating, or submitting your own recommendation, even if asked to do so by a recommender, is a violation of our application terms. You are responsible for informing your recommenders of this policy.

Submitting Letters of Recommendation

Your recommenders are required to submit their letters through our online form by the deadline of the round in which you apply. We strongly encourage you to notify your recommenders well in advance and ensure they adhere to the deadline date. You will be able to see the submission status of each letter (whether awaiting or received) and can ask Stanford to send each recommender a reminder approximately one week before the application deadline date.

Waiving Your FERPA Access Rights

Once you are a student in attendance, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 provides you with a right of access to your education record, including letters of recommendation if they are retained by the school. The law also permits you to waive that right of access to your letters of recommendation if you so choose. Waiving your right of access to your letters of recommendation is optional; your decision to waive or retain that right will have no bearing on the handling of your application.

The recommenders whom you notify will be able to see whether or not you have waived your FERPA right of access during the letter of recommendation submission process. You must waive or retain your right of access to your letters of recommendation (using the online application system) before you invite recommenders to submit information for you. Once you submit your application, you cannot change this information.

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