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Personally, it should assess the student’s personal characteristics, character, social skills, his or her relations with the students and professors. From a professional point of view, it should give account of the student’s knowledge, interests and capabilities, activities and results, work capacity, etc. The assessment of the student’s capabilities should be made from a multiple point of view over the next 3-4 paragraphs. Here, you can also give a one-sentence summary or overview of your opinion of the recommended individual. You may wish to include a sentence about the nature of your research group and its activities. If the person does research work under your guidance, indicate the type of research, the responsibilities of the student, and any significant projects undertaken by the individual. It should in any case be clear that the professor had the opportunity to get to know the student well and assess his/her capabilities. The professor should also state since when has s/he known the students: year, class or other activity. Recommendation letter usually starts by stating the name of the professor who writes the letter and his/her title, together with the name of the student for whom the letter is written. The professor will, in this case, only proof-read and sign the text. Due to different reasons, if you are a student in Eastern Europe (including Russia) you will often find yourself in the position to write these letters yourself. They're supposed to help decision-makers to get a better picture of your potential.
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Recommendation letters are letters written by professors who know you, assessing you capacity to meet the requirements of a program you are applying for.
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