Choose the required number (usually three to five) of professors who will be able to speak positively about your academic performance.
Contact your professors via email, phone, or an in-person visit to request a letter of recommendation. You should make this contact at least six weeks before the letter is due to provide your professors enough time to write.
Set a deadline for your professors. The deadline should be at least two weeks before the letters are actually due. This ensures that should your professors run behind, you will have time to encourage them to complete the letters before they are overdue.
Create an information pakcet to help your professors write detailed and specific letters for each graduate program. This packet should include information about the nature of each graduate program to which you are applying; a list of your relevant coursework, including your grade and accomplishments in each; a copy of your resume and letter of intent for each graduate program; and instructions for submission; and the deadline you have set.
Provide an information packet to your professors as soon as possible after they have agreed to write a letter of recommendation.
Follow up with your professors one week before your deadline to remind them of the upcoming due date. If they are not forwarding the letters directly to the graduate schools, make arrangements to pick up the letters.
Send thank-you notes to your professors. Let them know when you get accepted.