Letters of Recommendation

Applicants (excluding those applying to a joint BA/MA program) must submit at least three letters of recommendation. You may submit up to five letters.

All letters must be submitted electronically through the online application system and must be submitted directly by the recommender. Applicants may not submit recommendation letters themselves.

Recommendation Letter Policies

Letter Authorship Submission

Recommendation letters must be written entirely by the recommender. Applicants must certify that they did not write or submit their own letters.

If a recommender asks you to draft or write a letter for them, you may provide supporting information—such as your CV, research summary, or information about your goals—but you may not write the letter yourself.

We do not accept recommendation letters submitted by applicants.

All letters must be requested and received via our application system; letters submitted by other individuals not listed in the application by the applicant are not accepted.

Interfolio

The Division of Social Sciences accepts confidential letters submitted through Interfolio.

If you use Interfolio:

  1. Enter the unique Interfolio email address in the application system in place of your recommender’s email address.
  2. Interfolio will receive the request and prompt you to approve the submission in your Interfolio account.
  3. Once you approve the request, Interfolio will submit the letter to the University of Chicago–Division of Social Sciences Graduate Admissions.
  4. The letter will typically be uploaded to your application within 48 hours.

FERPA Rights

When you request a recommendation letter through our application system, you will be asked whether you want to waive your FERPA rights.

FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a U.S. law that gives you certain rights to access your education records. If you enroll at the University of Chicago, waiving your FERPA rights means that you give up your right to inspect your recommendation letters. If you do not enroll, you cannot use FERPA to request access to your application materials.

Your recommenders and the admissions committee will be able to see whether you have waived your rights.

We strongly encourage applicants to waive their FERPA rights. Many recommenders prefer to write confidential letters, and some may choose not to submit a letter if you have not waived your rights. Admissions committees may also view a non-confidential letter differently because the recommender knows that the applicant could potentially access it.

Recommendation Letter Guidance

Choosing Your Recommenders

Choose recommenders who can speak in detail about your academic abilities, research experience, and potential for graduate study, particularly in your intended field.

Because graduate study at the University of Chicago is highly specialized, letters from faculty members or instructors are generally the most useful. Strong letters often come from faculty with whom you have had a substantial and successful academic or research relationship, especially faculty who have supervised your research.

When deciding whether to ask an instructor for a letter, consider:

  • How long they have known you
  • How many courses you have taken with them
  • How actively you participated in those courses
  • Whether you completed substantial papers, research, or other projects for them
  • Whether they can provide specific examples of your academic abilities and potential

A good grade in a course alone does not necessarily mean that an instructor can provide a strong recommendation. Admissions committees want to understand what kind of scholar and professional colleague you may become, including your intellectual interests, approach to problem-solving, motivation, and commitment to your goals.

Recommended Recommender Disciplines

At least two of your three required letters should generally come from faculty who have taught you or supervised your research in your area of study.

You may also submit letters from faculty in related fields when their perspective is relevant to your intended field. For example:

  • An Economics applicant might submit a letter from a mathematics professor.
  • A Sociology applicant might submit a letter from a statistics professor.

Professional references are also acceptable when the recommender has supervised your research or when your professional experience is directly relevant to your intended field of study.

If You Have Been Out of School for Several Years

Applicants who have been away from school for a year or more may have difficulty obtaining letters from former instructors.

Many colleges and universities offer credential services that store recommendation letters for future use. If you are planning to leave your institution, we strongly encourage you to use such a service so that your letters remain available when you apply to graduate programs.

Additional Guidance for Economics Applicants

For applicants to the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, recommendation letters are particularly helpful when they provide specific comparisons of the applicant's academic performance and potential.

When appropriate, recommenders are encouraged to:

  • Rank the applicant's performance within their class or program (for example, “3rd of 23”).
  • Compare the applicant with students from similar backgrounds who are applying to or have recently applied to comparable Economics Ph.D. programs.
  • If writing letters for multiple applicants, compare and rank those applicants as fully as possible.

Specific comparisons can help the graduate admissions committee better understand an applicant's academic standing and potential relative to other students pursuing similar doctoral programs.