TEM #006: Have a heart of gold?

Title block: The Education Mindset. Subtitle: #006 Have a heart of gold? Picture of Dr. Jena with a cheerful smile
 

July 21, 2023

Hi there!

Time to celebrate, you’ve made it to another summer Friday 🥳

This week’s highlights:

  • Your education affirmation

  • 5 secrets to get an outstanding letter of recommendation

  • Action steps for the next week

  • The Golden Hour

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    Education affirmation.

    True gold fears no fire (真金不怕火炼). - Chinese proverb


    On the Blog.

    As someone who has written 100+ letters of recommendation (and read 20x that), I know exactly how powerful a well-written letter is to someone’s application.

    Once you’ve decided to apply, do these tips well in advance of requesting a letter to guarantee you’ll get one that sings your praises.

    5 Secrets to Get an Outstanding Letter of Recommendation 🎶


    Application Action Steps.

    Choose your own adventure 🚁

    1. Thinking about school in the future?

      • A tip from this week’s blog: Be an outstanding contributor.

      • How to do this: When in class or on a team, be intentional with your research and contributions toward a common goal. Instructors and supervisors notice who lifts up the team during a project.

      • ^ And these are the people who will write you a strong letter of recommendation one day.

    2. Actively applying later this year?

      • Friendly reminder to start reaching out to your potential recommenders soon.

      • Pro tip: Have a list of 3-5 people. Most schools want 3 letters, and it’s super important to have back-ups (because life happens even to recommenders with good intentions).


    Fun fact.

    Golden retrievers are the best animals on the planet.

    To celebrate the breed’s 155th anniversary, there was a party in Scotland with hundreds of golden retrievers living their best life.

    Brb, updating my travel bucket list.


    Quick question:

    Would it be helpful if I drafted an email that you could send to potential recommenders to see if they’d write you an outstanding letter?

    • If yes, hit reply to this email (it goes right to my inbox, not the ether) and put “Recommender email, please!” in the message.

    As always: You’ve got this!

    Dr. Jena

    p.s. If you signed up for this newsletter for golden retriever references, I hope this edition was as fun for you as it was for me! 🐾


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      Related Posts

      Dr. Jena Pugh

      I teach working professionals how to apply for graduate school and other advanced degrees so that they can achieve their education and career goals.

      https://drjenapugh.com
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      TEM #005: Strike that, reverse it.