Thanking a Professor for Writing a Letter of Recommendation (Everything you need to know in 2024)

A letter of recommendation is a letter that helps to depict you professionally. It is sent by a person who knows you professionally. Students mostly take the letter of recommendation from professors they may or may not know. Although there are professors who may not write the letter of recommendation for you surely some will help you. In such a case it is important to thank them. Thus here we will help you to know more about thanking a professor for writing a letter of recommendation for you. 

Quick Takeaways

• A letter of recommendation is a letter that is written by someone who knows you professionally including your professors.
• When your professor agrees to write a letter of recommendation for you, you must thank them for the favour.
• Following are the things that you must consider while thanking a professor for writing a letter of recommendation for you-

1. Choose the right way
2. Keeping the message short
3. Follow a proper guideline
4. Proofread it
5. Do the action as soon as possible
6. Try to offer something in return

However, you must read till the end so that you get a deep understanding of thanking a professor for writing a letter of recommendation for you.

What are recommendation letters?

A recommendation letter or a letter of recommendation is a letter that is written by someone who knows you professionally. If you are a student, you can ask professors for a letter of recommendation as they are your professional referees. They will need to add your skills, accomplishments and other achievements in the letter. Having a letter of recommendation means that the professor is recommending you on his or her basis. When you go for higher studies these letters of recommendation as a benefit to your application. It is not necessary that you have to ask for a letter of recommendation from the professor you know.

You can also ask one of the professors you do not know well. When a professor agrees to write a letter of recommendation for you it is your duty to thank them. Therefore, we have discussed the points you need to remember when you thank your professor when the agree to write one for you.

What are the things you need to remember while thanking a professor for writing a letter of recommendation?

A letter of recommendation plays a crucial role and getting selected for a higher institution. Therefore when a professor agrees to write it you must thank him or her. However, always remember to capitalize the word “Professor” when you are connecting them online. Following are the points you must remember while thanking the professor to write a letter of recommendation for you-

1. Choose the right way

Every professor wants to interact with the student in his or her own way. Some may want to talk to the students directly face to face and some may want them to communicate through emails. Therefore you must figure out how to communicate with them. You can directly contact them after that last over during their visiting hours. Contrary you can send them an email or a formal letter thanking them for the green to write the one. 

2. Keeping the message short

You must know that your professors have a lot of other work to do. Therefore, you must try to keep the message as short as possible. Do not include any unnecessary information in the letter or in the email. If you are sending an email you must make sure that you are writing a small subject line and precise context. In addition to that make sure to end the email properly.

3. Follow a proper guideline

You must remember that a proper outline is needed to send an email to your professor. Make sure to have a proper knowledge about it. Start with a polite greeting or salutation like “Dear Professor Smith”. You must include a clear statement showing gratitude towards the professor. If you have any update for the position you applied for, you must also include it in the letter you are sending to the professor.

4. Proofread it

When you are sending anything to the professor you must do a proofreading of it. Proofreading means you are going through the whole letter once again so that you can find all the mistakes and errors in it. Of course, you will not want to send an email or letter full of mistakes to the professor which will have a negative impact on you on the professor.

5. Do the action as soon as possible

As soon as you receive your letter of recommendation you must send a thank you note to the professor. When you will send it directly after receiving the letter of recommendation it will show your appreciation and also professionalism towards the professor. When your letter of recommendation is approved you may again send a follow-up mail to the professor about it.

6. Try to offer something in return

Of course, as a student, you will either have very less or nothing to offer your processes. But still, it is important to have a gesture along with the letter of recommendation. If you don’t have anything to offer, you can ask your professor to go on lunch with you. 

Why it is important to send a thank you email to the professor after they agree to write a letter of recommendation?

Following are the reasons that shows why it is important to send a thank you email after they agree to write a letter of recommendation –

• It shows your dedication towards doing things in the right manner. As many people do not have integrated themselves, sending or thank you note will show that you have a lot of integrity in you.
• It will help you to develop your connection with the professor which will further help to build up your network. Aaj yah professors will be with you from the time when you were a student most of the employees will have a great impression of it.
• It shows how grateful you are to your professor for helping them which further shows your gratitude towards them.
• It is a small gesture which carries a great weight. Although it is a very small gesture it has a great impact on you on your professor. It is because, in today’s time, most of us take help from outlet professors but forget to thank them.
• When you are full of gratitude towards your professor they will be more happy to write a letter of recommendation in your future. Thus even if you ae not have many people to write letters of recommendation for you in future you can always look to your professor.

Conclusion

Recommendation letters are the ones that help to show how you work professionally. If you are a student you can ask for a letter of recommendation from the professors teaching you. However, when a professor agrees to write a letter of recommendation for you, you must thank them for doing it. You can either send an email or a letter to thank your professor for writing one of them. Keep the message short and clear so that it does not take much time for your professor.

In addition to that, you proofread the email before sending it to the professor. Sending a thank you letter or email helps to show your integrity and gratitude towards the professor. It will help the professor to know how grateful you are for their help and will also build up a strong relationship with your Professor for a long time.