Career Services Center - Faculty and Staff Services: Letters of Reference Service

Guidelines for Writing Letters of Recommendation

The following guidelines are provided to assist you in formatting letters to allow for ease of distribution by our staff. Please contact the Career Services Center at 209.228.7272 or by email at careerservices@ucmerced.edu if you have any questions.

Letter Formatting

Before writing any letter of recommendation, each student or alumnus should provide you with a Letter of Reference Service Waiver Option Form that specifies whether they are requesting the content of the letter to be confidential or non-confidential. This waiver option form must be submitted with the actual letter. The Letter of Reference Service will not allow the individual access to a confidential letter but will allow the individual access to non-confidential letters. The individual should verify that his/her choice is acceptable to you before you write the letter.

Letters must be submitted on your professional letterhead. Letters should not be printed on plain paper or on both sides of paper.

Forwarding Your Letter to the Career Services Center

We strongly suggest that you retain a copy of your letter for your records. Letters and waivers may be sent by campus mail, by regular or express mail, by courier, or may be hand-delivered. Please seal the letter in an envelope and sign across the seal so that we will know that it has not been opened en route.

Please return your letter to:
UC Merced
Career Services Center
Attention: Letters of Reference Service
Kolligian Library, Suite 127
5200 N. Lake Road
Merced, CA 95343

Guidelines for Writing Recommendations for:

Graduate School

Medical School

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Career Services

Career Services Center - Faculty and Staff Services: Letters of Reference Service

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