Advice for Aspiring Applicants

Abstract

nwhjournal.org © 2016, AWHONN 229 Th is is the season when you or your colleagues may be preparing to go back to school. What a great adventure awaits! But fi rst there are applications to complete and letters of recommendation to request. Applications ask a person to “brag,” and for most of us who are not politicians, that is an uncomfortable position. However, the application should be carefully written. Having served on various committees, I have seen great examples of what not to do. For example, a number of times I have read rambling, illogical applications, some of which never even mention the type of program for which the candidate wishes to apply. Worse yet are the statements that clearly are cut and pasted, oft en without changing the name of another school embedded in the body of the text, or the applications for a scholarship that don’t show any connection with the sponsoring organization. Th en there are the letters of reference or recommendation. A candidate should choose the persons to provide recommendations carefully. Th e temptation is to ask someone of great esteem to write the letter. But even if the President of the United States would actually agree to do so, beware if that famous person doesn’t know you well. It is better to contact someone who knows you and provide them with your curriculum vitae and a line or two about why you want to go to that particular program (or seek a scholarship or letter of support). Th is enables the writer to customize a letter to your benefi t. Th e same is true if you are seeking a letter of support. On the other hand, what if you are the one asked to write a letter of recommendation? No Advice for Aspiring Applicants