How to Request a Letter of Recommendation
Overview
ISUAbroad allows you to request letters of recommendation electronically. To do so, you click on the Request Electronic Recommendation link on your application home page. From there, you can look up your recommender in the ISU directory or by entering the information manually for off-campus recommenders. NOTE: The recommendations panel will appear on the application page only for programs that require letters of recommendation.
Guidelines
We strongly recommend on-campus reviewers wherever possible. One recommendation must be an academic one. We can not accept recommendations from students (except graduate TAs), friends, or family. Furthermore, professional courtesy dictates that you contact your reference by phone or email to ask his/her permission to be a reference before submitting the recommendation request.Entering a Recommendation
Once the recommender is chosen, then the following screen appears: Recommendation Request Form. Keep in mind that the system will include the data you enter in these fields in the email it sends to your recommender.The recommender will receive an email once you submit the request. The email will contain login information for completing the recommendation. If the recommender has an ISU Net-ID, he/she may alternatively log in to ISUAbroad with his/her Net-ID and password.
Once the recommender logs in, he/she will see the Recommendation Questionnaire. Once he/she completes this questionnaire and presses the Submit button at the bottom of the page, the system marks this recommendation as being received. A check mark subsequently appears on your application next to the recommender's name. You will see this the next time you log into ISUAbroad and view your application.
Troubleshooting
If a recommender does not receive the recommendation request email, you can send an email to isuabroad@iastate.edu asking that it be resent. Alternatively, ISU faculty and staff can log in to ISUAbroad with their Net-ID and password as noted above.If a recommender decides not to complete the recommendation, you can email the person's name to isuabroad@iastate.edu to request that the system administrator delete that reference request. Once deleted, you may submit a new request.