This page is not an official publication of
the University of North Texas.
If I write for you, I will include your
letter grade and your rank in my course according to your overall
score, e.g., K^th out of N students. I will emphasize positive
things such as improvement over the term. In the case of TAMS
students I describe the
TAMS program. If your grade is low I can still sometimes
write a helpful letter: feel free to discuss it with me.
I prefer on-line to paper forms.
CONCERNING ALL LETTERS:
(1) At least one month before the first letter is due, send me an email asking me if I can write for you. In this letter, you must tell me the due date of the first letter.
(2)
If I say yes, send me a second email containing all of the schools you
will apply to, and the format (electronic or paper) and due dates of
their letters, in chronologically increasing order, as follows:
University of
...
Electronic letter, due Nov. 1
College of ...
Paper
letter, due Nov. 15
and so on. The school information should be easy for me to read: each line should
have one school and its letter format and due date, and these lines should be double spaced.
You should attach to this email any electronic documents
you want me to have, e.g., scans of your transcript and/or 1 page
personal statement (see the bottom of this page). This way I have
one email containing all of your information. I will let you
know if I need anything
else and tell you when your letters have been sent by replying to
it. (3) Fill out all paper application forms as completely as
possible! Accept or decline all waivers, and sign your descision. If
you leave anything blank that you could have filled out, including
routine stuff on my section, I will leave it blank too. In particular:
Fill
in my name, address (Charles Conley, Math.
Dept.,
Univ. of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311430, Denton TX 76203-5017),
phone
number
(940 565 3326), email address (conley@unt.edu), length of time I have
known
you, capacity I have known you in, high school name, high school
address
(TAMS, UNT, 1155 Union Circle #305309, Denton TX 76203-5017), etc. You
should say that I have been teaching for 25 years if they ask.
(4) I want to send all of your letters at the same time.
If you request them in more than one batch, you will need to explain why or I will not send any but the first batch. (5) Make sure that
all paper application forms (e.g., the common application form)
and information sheets you give me are two-sided! (6) If
you mess up anything above, I won't write your letter until it's fixed,
and I may not have time to contact you before the deadlines. (7) I will not write a
letter to just one school (e.g., Stanford!). Use the same set of
letters for all of your applications - otherwise you are being
inefficient with the time of your recommenders.
CONCERNING PAPER LETTERS:
(1) Give
me only one copy of the common application form: I will photocopy it
once it is completely filled out (excepting my signature, which will be
original). (2) Give me an addressed stamped envelope
for every letter! Note: the UNT post office requires that all 8.5
by 11 envelopes have two stamps, even if they weigh under one ounce. (3) Make sure that all envelopes you give me are self-adhesive! (I'm not going to lick hundreds of envelopes.)
(4) Put my return address on all envelopes or the UNT post office will not take them!
(5) Do
not fold the teacher evaluation forms or put them in their
envelopes. (I need to fold them together with the letter I will
send with them.) INFORMATION YOU MAY GIVE ME:
If
you like, I will write your letter based solely on your performance in
class. In that case I don't need any information. If you
want to give me information, it may include any of the following (but
nothing else, please). It is best if you send it as an attachment
to your main email (see above), by scan if necessary. Transcript: An unofficial copy of your transcript. For TAMS students, only your UNT transcript.
On at most ONE page:
(1) Goals: What you want to major in as of now and what careers you are considering. (2) Extra Information: Describe
only major things such as summer research, summer schools, major
awards, life-long hobbies like music or theater, and multiple languages.
You can skip the volunteer work. (3) Personal Statement: You can add anything you want me to know about yourself.
(4) Proof read! Grewsum
spelling and grammer does not make a good impression. i am
especially averse to improper capitalization and punctuation