Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs · A podcast on thriving in graduate school for first-generation BIPOC students, offering insights on academic success, career development, mental health, and navigating diversity and inclusion in higher education.

342: How to Write Your Own Letter of Recommendation for Grad School Applications

·30 min·1 clip

Recommendation letters should usually be one to two pages single spaced, not a short paragraph.

1. Grad School Femtoring: Inclusive Grad School Stories, Personal Development, and Productivity Tips for First-Gen BIPOCs centers on how to write your own letter of recommendation for grad school applications. 2. Dr. Yvette Martinez-Boo hosts the episode as a certified coach, consultant, and author who says she serves as a “femtor” for first-gen BIPOC listeners. 3. The episode asks what to do when a recommender agrees to help but asks you to draft the letter yourself. 4. Dr. Yvette says professors are overloaded with teaching, research, service work, grants, and mentoring responsibilities. 5. She explains that some recommenders delegate the first draft because they are balancing 10 to 12 letters for 10 to 12 students. 6. She says the arrangement can feel uncomfortable, but it also gives the applicant control over what goes into the letter. 7. She warns that not all letters are equally strong and says weak letters can hurt an applicant more than help. 8. Dr. Yvette shares that she started seeing recommendation letters as a graduate student after serving on the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Program review committee. 9. She says that experience helped her notice the difference between strong and weak letters before she began TA-ing and receiving requests to write them. 10. She says she still questioned her own ability, which is why she recommends having a professor co-sign a graduate-student draft. 11. Her first concrete recommendation is to ask mentors, advisors, or grad students for anonymous sample letters. 12. She says sample letters help because some people learn best by seeing what a successful model looks like. 13. She explicitly says she does not recommend relying on AI for this task. 14. She says strong letters are typically one to two pages single spaced. 15. She describes a letter that barely reached halfway down the page and says she was upset because it looked weak next to fuller letters. 16. She outlines the structure as an opening, body paragraphs, and a closing, with the student writing from the professor’s point of view. 17. She gives the “what and the how and the so what” framework for body paragraphs and translates it into problem, action, and result. 18. She recommends adding context about first-gen background, extracurricular involvement, community engagement, or leadership only when the recommender already knows those details. 19. The episode sounds like a direct coaching session, with frequent examples, repeated reminders, and a practical checklist at the end. 20. First-gen BIPOC grad applicants who need help drafting recommendation letters would get the most value here; applicants who want a theory-heavy discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A clear guide to the awkward work of asking for, and writing, a stronger recommendation letter.

Dr. Yvette Martinez-Boo treats recommendation letters as something messier than routine paperwork. The conversation stays close to the awkward reality of it: an applicant asks, one recommender hesitates, and a third agrees only if the applicant drafts the letter.

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Why you'd press play

When a professor says yes to a recommendation letter, then hands the pen back to you.

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