CKJ/12/08/10

Unraveling the Mystery of Economics PhD Admissions

www.econphdadmission.blogspot.com

On the demand of many readers I have prepared these two recommendation letter drafts. Most of the schools ask for 3 recommendation letters. However applicants can prepare third draft by selecting suitable and appropriate sentences from these two drafts. Try to avoid too many same sentences in more than one recommendation letter. It is also the responsibility of the applicant to use the sentences which best fits him because not every sentence fits to every applicant. Remember something which seems to be white lie may jeopardize your chances of securing admission. So make sure you dont lie. Even though recommendation is supposed to be written not by you, but the Professors the admission committee knows that in most parts of the world an applicant prepares the draft for the same. So its you responsibility to include only relevant and appropriate stuffs which shows you a suitable candidate for PhD. Focus on your strengths and get it substantiated by your recommenders. Any comments and feedbacks are also welcome. Thanks for subscribing to the blog www.econphdadmission.blogspot.com All the best,

RECO DREAFT 1 Letter of Reference I know Mr /Ms .. since .. In this association I have been his/her professor as well as his thesis supervisor at the (College or University name as applicable).. I have interacted with him for long hours on Economics and related subjects. In the thesis, he makes an analysis of (.what is your research paper about if you didnt have a research paper remove this sentence). From our discussions it was apparent that he was motivated to research in the area of... Unraveling the Mystery of Economics PhD Admissions www.econphdadmission.blogspot.com

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I was impressed with his/her research skills and analytical ability during the course of guiding his research efforts for his/her thesis. It is important to note that this thesis is his/her original work of research. He/she has excellent ability to find the relevant information from original published research paper in scholarly journals and analyse the content. He/she comes up with an excellent conclusion about the strengths and weaknesses of a research paper taking into account the logical and empirical consistencies. He/she is very competent in using statistical packages such as STATA, SPSS. He/she deftly used these packages for multivariate analysis of data over # years for his Master level thesis. Your name has demonstrated a very strong appetite for further research and is keen to learn. His/her decision to join ************ as a research associate (or whatever) was the result of his/her sincerity towards research and academics. His/her paper TITLE presented or published in so and so journal exemplifies his/her sincerity towards research. His/her intelligence and command over his subject is obvious from the fact that he/she ranked first (or may be in top 5% as applicable) among the entire class of Undergraduate Degree College. He/she got a distinction in Research Paper (if its counted as a course) which was the result of his/her hard work, good analytical and research ability and dedication for the research. In the light of his/her excellent academic background and commitment for quality research, I strongly recommend him/her as a student of Ph.D. in economics. I am sure he/she will prove his abilities in further studies and research and contribute to academics and research and contribute to the body of knowledge available to academia at large.

Unraveling the Mystery of Economics PhD Admissions www.econphdadmission.blogspot.com

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RECO DRAFT 2 To whomsoever it may concern I feel delighted to recommend Mr . for further studies at your esteemed institute. I know him as a student in my course of . In the class his queries were very logical which revealed his strong analytical ability and regular studying habit. I could note that he has excellent command over the basic and advanced concepts of economics. He also has excellent communication skills and an ability of multitasking. Your name.. is endowed with creative mind, well read and competent in the use of quantitative techniques. He has a taste for carrying out empirical research with analytical rigour and is logical and candid in giving interpretation to research findings. He has got the conceptual clarity and is very keen for further studies. In his dissertation or research paper on he has shown his research skills and employed the econometric model very well. He has good understanding of the research methods and has sufficient prerequisites in terms of theoretical and mathematical understanding to carry out research. He seemed to be very much interested in the .. He actively participated in cultural and sports activities and weekly seminars held at the school. In the seminar he was able to justify his presence through logical and penetrative questions. His combination of intelligence, commitment and creativity makes him a valuable candidate for any academic program. I encourage you to favourably consider his application.

Unraveling the Mystery of Economics PhD Admissions www.econphdadmission.blogspot.com