Your Recommendation Letter Is Written by Your Referee. It’s Built by You.
A one-page “referee brief” that helps busy professors write specific, convincing letters, with a template you can copy.
A student handing a one-page referee brief to a professor before a scholarship recommendation letter A one-page brief helps your referee write specifics instead of generalities.
Most applicants treat the recommendation letter as the one part of the application they can’t control. The professor writes it, they upload it, and everyone hopes for the best.
That’s half true. Your referee does write the letter. But what ends up in it depends almost entirely on what they know about you on the day they sit down to write, and you have more control over that than you think.
A professor with thirty letters to write that month doesn’t remember the details of your third-year project. If you give them nothing, they will do what any tired person does: write something safe. “A hardworking and dedicated student with excellent potential.” Panels have read that sentence so many times they stop seeing it.
The fix is a one-page document I’ll call the referee brief.
What a referee brief is
It’s a single page you send with your request that makes the referee’s job easy. It tells them what the scholarship is looking for, reminds them of two or three specific things you did, and gives them every practical detail they need. You are not writing the letter. You are handing them the raw material for a good one.
Here is what goes on the page.
1. The scholarship in two lines. What it is, who funds it, and what it rewards: leadership, research potential, development impact, whatever the panel is scoring. Referees can’t speak to criteria they don’t know about.
2. Three moments, not three adjectives. Pick three specific things the referee saw you do. A presentation you rebuilt after feedback. The week you stayed to fix the lab data. The study group you ran before finals. One sentence each, with the date or course.
3. One angle for this referee. If you have two referees, give each a different job. The professor speaks to academic ability. The supervisor speaks to reliability under pressure. Two letters that say the same thing waste a slot.
4. What your other documents say. Attach your personal statement and CV. A letter that contradicts your statement, or ignores the story it tells, hurts you. A letter that backs it up with an outside voice helps a lot.
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5. The logistics. Deadline, how to submit (a link, an email, a sealed envelope), the form or format required, and the name and email you registered. Most late letters are not a refusal. They are confusion.
A template you can copy
Referee brief: [Your name]
Scholarship: [name, funder, deadline] Letter due: [date, and a gentle target a week earlier] How to submit: [portal link / email / format]
What the panel looks for: [two lines from the official call]
Three things you saw me do:
- [Moment, course or project, approximate date]
- [Moment, course or project, approximate date]
- [Moment, course or project, approximate date]
What I would be grateful if you could speak to: [leadership / research ability / work ethic / teaching potential]
My plan in one sentence: [what you want to study and why]
Attached: CV, personal statement draft, transcript.
Thank you for considering this. If you don’t feel you know my work well enough to write a strong letter, please tell me, and I will fully understand.
That last sentence matters, and I’ll come back to it.
How to ask, and when
Give your referee at least a month if you can, and more if the deadline falls in a busy season. Send one short, specific email rather than a vague request in a corridor.
Dear Professor [Name],
I’m applying for the [scholarship] to study [subject] at [university], with a deadline of [date]. You taught me [course] and supervised my [project], so I’d be honored if you could write a letter on my behalf, but only if you feel you know my work well enough to write a strong one.
I’ve attached a one-page brief with the details, my CV and my statement draft. I’m happy to meet for ten minutes if that’s easier.
With thanks, [Name]
Two small points. Asking whether they can write a strong letter gives them an honest exit, and a referee who says no saves you from a lukewarm letter that would have hurt more than none. And send one gentle reminder a week before the deadline, then another a couple of days before. It isn’t rude. It’s what a busy person needs.
The awkward bit: “Can you write a draft yourself?”
Some referees, especially overloaded ones, will ask you to draft the letter. This happens all over the world and it’s worth handling carefully.
If they ask, don’t hand over a finished, polished letter in their voice. Give them the brief and the bullet points, and offer to answer questions. If they still want a draft, make clear it is a starting point they will edit, correct and sign as their own, because the opinions and the signature must be theirs. Some scholarships explicitly ask for letters the applicant has not written, and some portals ask whether you waive access to read the letter. Follow whatever the form says. A letter that sounds like you praising yourself reads as exactly that.
Read what the scholarship actually asks for
Don’t assume every programme wants the same thing. Some ask for two academic referees, some for one academic and one professional, and some for none. In the 2026 Banach NAWA call, for example, the only recommendation was an optional letter from a Polish embassy or consulate, worth up to 10 points, and no academic referee letters. Spending three weeks chasing professors for a call that doesn’t ask for them is time you could have spent on your video or your documents. Read the official call first.
After the letter
Thank your referee, in writing, and tell them the outcome whether it goes well or not. They will remember you as someone who closes the loop, which matters when you need a second letter for a PhD application a few years later.
If you want to see what a finished letter looks like, or you are a referee looking for a structure, our collection of recommendation letter for scholarship samples and templates shows several formats.
The letter has your referee’s name on it. The details inside it can be yours.
Study Tribune publishes scholarship guides for international students. More at studytribune.com.
