Text Size
Print
Email
National News
- Text Size
- Print
- Email
What Letters Of Recommendation Say...And What They Really Mean
Here's a classic glossary of American academic letters of recommendation, courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education:
Hard-working, workmanlike, industrious, diligent, persistent
=This person is not very original, but he sure tries hard.
Shy, low-key, keeps his own counsel.
=This person is socially dysfunctional.
I recommend this person ... without reservation, with enthusiasm, with my highest endorsement.
=Hire this person.
I recommend this person ... warmly, strongly, to any department with a job in her area.
=Do not hire this person.
Well-grounded.
=This scholar is hopelessly mired in bourgeois notions of proof.
This student is always willing to engage in vigorous debate.
=This student is really obnoxious.
Solid, competent, scoured the archives, good study habits.
=This student is a plodding dullard who will never produce anything of interest.
This person is an outstanding scholar (without any mention of teaching).
=This person is lousy in the classroom.
This person is an outstanding teacher (without any mention of research).
=This person is a lousy scholar.
Path-breaking, brilliant, first-rate, making fundamental contributions to the field.
=This scholar is at the top of her discipline.
This is a person of great promise, who is working on important issues.
=As a scholar, this person has not yet arrived.
Eclectic or synthetic scholarship. This academic is a flake.
=At first, this student wasn't sure she wanted to be an English major, but in the last couple of months, her work has really flowered.
This student has a lot of bad grades.
=Independent thinker.
This student is arrogant and wouldn't follow his adviser's recommendations. (Depending on the context, however, it can also mean imaginative.)
=The acorn hasn't fallen far from the tree.
This student's work is dreadfully derivative and adds nothing to what her dissertation adviser has already written.
=Articulate.
This person is a safe minority scholar who will not give you any trouble.
=He will blossom with further mentoring.
I have serious doubts that I will ever see this person publish an article, much less a book.
=Smart.
This person is clever but superficial. (Although, if said about someone in the humanities, it might mean that the person is well-dressed.)
=When this student walks into class, the room lights up.
We had long discussions after class.
=I am hopelessly in love with this student.
2025 The Background Investigator. All Rights Reserved.