Provide the letter writer the following information:

• When the letter is due. As a rule, even if you give a professor 2 years advance warning, a letter will be late unless you specifically state a date. If you are requesting letters from people who might not have complete mastery of their schedule, you might consider giving them an "early" date instead of the true deadline, though most faculty assume that students are doing this. If you are truly concerned, write on your request sheet that you would like ("pretty please, if possible") to be notified by e-mail once a letter has been sent. Also, consider adding a well-positioned Post-It on each form with a due date and whether it should be returned to you (in a sealed envelope, of course) or be sent directly to the recipient.
  
  
• The address. If you have lots of addresses, think of some way to highlight (e.g., highlighter, Post-Its) the different "due dates" for different jobs or programs. If you hand a stack of address and forms, all with different due dates, to a busy professor, you can be sure that one or more will be completed late--make it painfully easy to keep track of each request.
  
  
• Whenever possible, provide the name and title of the person who will receive the completed letter. "To whom it may concern" sounds awful, and inappropriate use of Miss, Mrs, Ms, Mr, and Dr can be offensive.
  
  
• A letter writer always likes to know why he or she is being asked, so provide this information if you can. Who else will be writing letters on your behalf? This information helps the letter writer adjust his/her comments in important ways.
  
  
• Your resume. If you don't have a resume, you really should: get the wonderfully-written Resume Guide from the Swarthmore Career office in Parrish. This guide has many sample resumes that you can quickly emulate.
  
  
• Your transcript is usually not needed, but you might ask whether the letter writer desires it.
  
• Are there specific items (e.g., laboratory experience, statistical knowledge, ability to get along with others, courses taken) that you would like the letter writer to specifically mention?
  
  
• How does (if it does) position X or program X fit into your short or long-term goals?

Letters by faculty and staff at Swarthmore are always sent in Biology Department envelopes via Departmental mail, so you do not need to provide envelopes or stamps.

Swarthmore Biology faculty take great pride in crafting good, long letters for their students, so please tell your letter writers whether you got the position -- they like to know!

Note: As the popular t-shirt attests, "Anywhere else it would have been an A", keeping your GPA high at Swarthmore is difficult. You no doubt are aware that many of the large, very prestigious institutions that produce your "competitors" are all getting As; the only comfort, and it is probably minor to you, is that some At Swarthmore, especially in the Division of Natural Sciences where grade inflation is particularly low, As and Bs are truly above average. Do not be discouraged from applying to top-tier graduate programs (or other programs) simply because you think your GPA is too low.

If you ever want to thank your letter writers, there is nothing better than just staying in touch after you graduate--send biology-related postcards from exotic places.