Writing Advice for Recommenders
What are Letters of Recommendation?
Letters of recommendation are a key component of our holistic review process. These letters are written statements, usually about a page in length, that highlight the students academic and personal characteristics, focusing on a recommender's personal experience with the student.
Caltech requires letters of recommendation from two secondary school teachers:
- one from a STEM teacher: math (calculus or beyond preferred), physics, chemistry, or biology
- one from a Humanities/Social Sciences teacher: English, history, government, or economics.
We have compiled the following advice for recommenders to review while crafting your letters, which will help us understand your experience teaching, working with, or mentoring your student. When writing your letters of recommendation, it may be helpful to consider the three qualities that inform how we review applicants:
Capacity for Caltech Rigor
- How has the student demonstrated their readiness to thrive in the pace, depth, and intensity of Caltech's academic environment?
- Is your student capable of absorbing large amounts of complex material? Do they understand the theory behind difficult concepts? Do they continue to learn effectively as the work becomes more demanding?
Scholarly Character
- Who is this student when the work becomes difficult? How do they show up when they don't know the answer to a question?
- How has this student demonstrated integrity, resilience, and generosity in the pursuit of learning?
- Does this student remain intellectually engaged when answers are not obvious? Do they respond constructively to difficulty or ambiguity? Do they approach their work with honesty, humility, independence, and persistence?
Scientific Drive
- Is this student drawn repeatedly toward questions, problems, and ideas because they genuinely want to know how and why things work?
- Does the student engage in self-directed exploration beyond their assigned work?
- Does this student demonstrate original thinking and make substantive contributions to the classroom?
- How does this student use their STEM knowledge to solve problems or understand the world?
STEM Letter of Recommendation
Caltech students have a deep, profound, and unwavering love for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. But you already knew that about your student! We look for students who are drawn repeatedly toward questions, problems, and ideas because they genuinely want to know how and why things work. Their engagement is not limited to completing assignments, collecting credentials, or participating in activities because they believe those experiences will look impressive on a college application.
Specific examples to paint a picture of a student's strengths may include:
- Significant contributions to the classroom or school learning environment (e.g., leadership during a lab project, inspiring classmates to dive deeper into complex material, teaching a lesson)
- Involvement in STEM competitions locally, statewide, or nationally, including their impact on the team and/or program
- Demonstration of depth of understanding of difficult concepts
- Demonstration of perseverance, such as a failed lab trial or a difficult mathematical problem
- Context regarding where a student stands academically among the students you have taught over the course of your teaching career
Humanities or Social Science Letter of Recommendation
While Caltech students share a love of STEM, the Caltech core curriculum includes a robust humanities and social sciences curriculum. Teacher evaluations from a class with a strong writing component are important pieces of our holistic review as they allow us to see the breadth of a student's academic preparedness.
Specific examples to paint a picture of a student's strengths may include:
- Significant contributions to the classroom learning environment, such as comments made during class discussion, leadership during a group project, mentorship of other students
- Short excerpts of a student's writing, such as
- Essay, poem, or research paper that stands out as intellectually profound or particularly creative
- Other writing that demonstrated excellent communication about, or comprehension of a complex literary piece or social concept
- Demonstration of a depth of understanding of social, literary, or philosophical topics
- Demonstration of perseverance, such as improvement or evolution as a writer over time
- Context regarding where a student stands academically among the students you have taught over the course of your teaching career
Letter of Recommendation from Site of Research
If an applicant is submitting a research paper, we require an additional recommendation from someone who can provide context to their research. Keep in mind that faculty at Caltech review files, so feel free to include details regarding the students technical achievements.
Consider inducing examples of the following:
- Context of the student's responsibilities. What was the depth of their involvement in the research?
- Context of the impact of the student's contributions to the progress and/or success of the research.
- Where this student stands among the high school students you have worked with throughout your career.
- Based on your experience, comment on their potential to contribute greatly to the advancement of science innovation at Caltech and in the future.
Additional Letters of Recommendation
An applicant may submit up to one additional letter of evaluation if there is another person (mentor, coach, or supervisor) who can provide additional insights about them and their skills - beyond what the two required letters offer. This supplementary letter can also be from a teacher or professor in an academic area an applicant is interested in studying at Caltech, as long as there is no overlap with their other two letters of recommendation.
How do I submit a letter of recommendation?
Documents such as teacher letters of recommendation and additional letters of recommendations must by submitted directly by a school official/recommender. We do not accept these documents when submitted by an applicant/student. We prefer that recommenders submit their letter through the application platform an applicant used to apply to Caltech. If this is not possible, a recommender may email a PDF of their letter of recommendation, the applicant's full name, and date of birth to [email protected].