Recommendation Guidelines

Let me explain the need for these extensive guidelines:

I see it as an integral part of my job to write recommendations and assist students in any way I can to help them land that dream job or get into the graduate school of their choice.

With the advent of electronic recommendations, the task of writing recommendations for my usual flock of students has become insurmountably burdensome.

Online applications

· usually start with an email verification on which I must click to wait for yet another email to get an access code

· after I received the code and logged in, I am usually required to change the temporary password

· after changing the password I have to fill out my entire address and contact information, title rank, department, phone, email, etc

· then I must provide rankings for each students qualifications for about 20 dimensions from super cumbersome drop-down menus

· next I must specify the recommendation file that I want to upload and wait for the upload to complete.

· then the uploaded file is converted to the schools pdf format (even if it is already in pdf format), after waiting for that process to complete, I must verify and view the file to make sure it converted correctly

· next I am required to click to check that the entire recommendation with address and drop down selections and uploaded PDF is in good order

· finally I can submit the recommendation and hope it is accepted.

This procedure and/or upload is seldom completed without glitches.

· Often identity verification codes are valid for only a few days. If I don’t upload a recommendation immediately after being notified, the link goes dead

1. Then I have to write the school,

2. wait for a reply,

3. verify my identity,

4. wait for a new access code (which can again take days)

5. then start the above process again.

· Even worse, some schools share the same web-submission software. One would think that is a good thing. Instead of sharing information, the software can get hung up thinking you are still logged into another school’s account and won't let you continue to submit recommendations to schools that use the same platform.

1. Then I have to write to the web-software help line

2. find a live person,

3. ask for a password and software reset

4. wait for days for a reply

5. and then start from the very beginning.

The bottom line is that it takes me about 10 minutes per student per school to fill out their forms and upload the materials. With an average of 10 students per year, each applying to about 10 schools -- you do the math! It literally takes me days each fall. In response to the inefficient and glitchy/buggy online submission systems, I have had no option but to impose limits and guidelines to keep my commitments manageable.

If you would like a recommendation from me:

I) I am willing to comply if you are applying to law schools. Law schools have one centralized submission process. II) If you are applying to any other type of graduate school, all of the below conditions must be fulfilled

a) you received a grade of 3.5 or above in one of my classes

b) you have fewer than 10 schools you are applying to

c) you provide me with

1) an (unofficial) transcript

2) a cv

3) a picture (best one that resembles what you looked like when you took the course)

d) All online/paper forms must be completely filled out with all my correct contact information

1) Full first and last name

2) Title

3) UW address (complete!)

4) Email/UWphone

If an online application does not allow me to complete a recommendation because my contact information is not fully provided, I will not complete the recommendation.

f) If a school accepts only paper recommendations, these forms must be accompanied by envelopes for each school that are

- pre-addressed

- pre-stamped

- featuring my correct return address

If an envelope to a school is incomplete, I cannot send the recommendation to this school.

If a)-f) are fulfilled, I will spend one day on submitting your recommendations this implies that

· All forms, online or paper, - must be submitted by you to me on the same day

o this has important implications for your management of the application process:

§ In order to assure that all recommendation requests are sent to me on the same date, you must complete your submission to all schools at the same time. I cannot complete recommendations requests that arrive early or late.

Confidentiality

Letters of recommendation that are not confidential are not worth the paper they are printed on. Such recommendations are considered biased and worthless by any self-respecting admission committee. Please do not ask me to write a non-confidential recommendation, it is not worth my time.

Having said that, I do understand students' anxieties whether their letters will be "good enough" for the schools to which they apply. I will be straight forward with you. If I think there are schools in your package for which you do not qualify, I will let you know. Example: your UW GPA is 2.0 but you got a 3.5 in my class and attempt to apply to Ivy League graduate schools, you will get feedback from me that no matter what I write, you will not get in.

CRUCIAL INFORMATION FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO BUSINESS SCHOOLS:

Here is why you should very carefully consider who will be writing for you for business schools (and I will be the first to tell you it should NOT be me).

1) Most business schools want to see at least 2 years of practical work experience. Even if they don’t state it as an outright requirement. Believe it nor not – I have been doing this for over 20 years… If you don’t believe me, maybe the below will convince you…

2) Since I only observe you as a professor in an economics department academic environment, I cannot answer most of the key questions these business school recommendations ask. Download a recommendation yourself and check! Here is why:

Business school recommendations, regularly ask the following questions that I cannot answer by simply observing you in class. These are direct quotes from business school recommendation forms (that look all pretty similar)

• Comment on the student's ability to Work with Others
• Evaluate the Student's Leadership Ability: write a one paragraph anecdote and comment on the overall potential. Provide examples of when the individual has provided leadership on a project as part of a team.
• Comment on the Student's Change Leadership: Accepts status quo; does not see the need for change; Challenges status quo and identifies what needs to change; Defines positive direction for change and persuades others to support it; Promotes change and mobilizes individuals to change behavior; Builds coalition of supporters and coordinates change across multiple individuals; may create champions who will mobilize others to change
• Comment in the Student's Team Leadership Potential: Avoids leadership responsibilities; Assumes leadership when necessary or required; Exhibits beginning qualities of leadership; sometimes solicits ideas and perspectives from others; Solid leader; seeks leadership opportunities; consistently and actively engages others; Exhibits strong leadership qualities; seeks or creates new leadership opportunities; creates vision and brings others along in a collaborative way
• Comment on the Student's Collaboration Abilities: Reluctant to accept input from others; Accepts and may respond to input from others; Seeks to engage others; experiences mixed success; Brings others together across boundaries to achieve results; Builds partnerships among a diverse group to improve effectiveness
• Comment on the Student's Abilities in Developing Others: Focuses primarily on own abilities; Points out mistakes to support the development of others; Gives specific positive and negative behavioral feedback to support the development of others; Gives specific positive and negative behavioral feedback and provides unfailing support; Inspires and motivates others to develop by providing feedback and identifying new growth opportunities as well as supporting their efforts to change
• Comment on the Student's Results Orientation: Fulfills assigned tasks but may falter facing adversity
• Comment on the Student's Stress Management, Time Management and Resilience: Resents and avoids stressful situations; Requires coaching to recover from setbacks; Falters, at times, under pressure; Can operate with limited guidance to recover from setbacks; Adequately manages pressure; Independently recovers from setbacks; Proactively reaches out for support under pressure; Recovers from setbacks by requesting input from colleagues/ teammates; Maintains composure and clarity of thought under pressure; Analyzes setbacks constructively and charts proactive recovery course

These are just a few of the many questions I am always stumped to answer even if I thought you were the best student I had ever seen.

If you want to go to business school, the only way anyone can answer these questions in a meaningful way is to work in the real world and have someone attest to all these dimensions of your character after experiencing you in this environment. Or, perhaps there are UW undergrad business school classes where some of these characteristics are learning goals and the instructor designs the class to evaluate students on these metrics. But in economics, Team Leadership, Team Development Abilities, Collaboration, Ability to Work With Others etc is just not observed.

Crucial information for those who are interested in applying to (business) school programs that involve and MS in Financial Economics, Computational Economics, or Financial Engineering. These programs also ask for information that I usually cannot provide, for example (again direct quotes):

• Describe the candidate's abilities in mathematics
• Describe the candidate's programming abilities and skills
• Discuss the candidate's effectiveness in working with others.

  These questions are central to recommendations in these fields but I cannot provide any information on them because I have not observed these qualities in my class with you. If you are in any way interested in this type of graduate school, I strongly urge you to take the computational sequence at the UW and obtain a recommendation from a UW professor in applied math or computational economics.

For those interested in top 10 departments (for example, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, UPenn , MIT, Duke, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley or ivy league schools in general): I will write recommendations top schools only f your overall GPA at the UW is 3.9 or higher. If you are interested in a top 20 department I will only write a recommendation if you have an econ only GPA of 3.8.

Please note: I answer all requests for recommendations that adhere to the above guidelines. I will not answer requests that do not conform to these guidelines.

Please fill out the form below, copy it into a word doc and send the PDF (yes pdf) to me with all other supporting documents. Insert and X next to the YES or NO below to indicate your answers

*****************************************************************************************

	YES	NO
I am have researched 10 top departments / ivy league schools
I am applying to less than 10 programs
I am submitting all applications on the same day
I will send an unofficial transcript plus a photo that resembles what I looked like when I took the course, and a CV
I am aware that Professor Eicher is not well qualified to provide business school recommendations, since they require answers to questions that he cannot provide.
I am aware that MBA / Business Analytics and M Finance programs require substantial work experience
I am aware that MBA / Business Analytics and M Finance programs generally prefer the recommendation of an employer
I am aware that computational finance programs, even at the UW, require substantial Math background with excellent course GPAs (>3.8)
I am aware that econ grad schools (any program in the top 40), require a substantial number of classes in - econ - math - stats as well as - an overal GDP > 3.7 - an honors thesis and a meaningful thesis/RA relationship with a UW faculty member.
I have chosen my schools realistically given my course work background and given my GPA and work experience
I realize that certain requirements must be met for Professor Eicher to submit recommendations to top schools.
I realize that getting into top economics graduate programs requires a lot more than near perfect GPAs. It includes having taking graduate econ classes at the UW, advanced statistics, advanced math, and some programming classes .
I realize that most graduate programs have around 20 students. I realize the competition is tough and I will have to distinguish myself beyond a good GPA to have a chance at a good program. Distinguishing attributes might include an extensive, excellent honors thesis, extensive RA work with a UW professor, outside experience during an economic internship that was highly applied (a year at US Fed)
I realize that Eicher will not write non-confidential recommendations, since they are discounted by schools.
I realize that I need at least a 3.5 in Eicher's course to receive a recommendation
I have taken the following courses (write the course numbers in the next column): MATH 307, 308, 309, 324, plus ____________________________________________ ECON 400, 401, 482, plus ________________________________________________ Upper level statistics courses: _____________________________________________
I have written an honors thesis entitled (also write the honors thesis advisor):
I have talked and interacted with professor Eicher extensively to see if my graduate school goals match my educational / employment background
My overall GPA at the UW is:
My Econ GPA at the UW is:
STUDENT SIGNATURE (can be typed) _____________________________________