Letter of Recommendation Templates, College Application Letter Writing Help

Writing letters of recommendation for students’ college applications can consume too many hours. To help reduce the time you spend writing these letters, I’ve cracked open the vault of college application recommendation letters I’ve written over the past two decades. I used to lose entire prep periods and large chunks of Sunday afternoons writing these college letters. Today, I just open a template, change the student’s name and school address, modify the body paragraphs with a few fresh details, and – bam! – I’m done. Prep time restored!

If you’ve never written college application letters before or you just want to save some time, you need this bundle of 20 sample letters/templates. The files are EDITABLE Microsoft Word files (.doc) and can be imported into any document software or pasted into online forms, such as The Common Application.

Please note that this is a collection of the actual letters I’ve used in the past (with students’ names changed, of course), and you’ll want to modify the details to fit your own students. The letter of recommendation starting points include templates for the following types of students:

1. All-Around Nice Kid

2. Athlete-Scholar-Leader

3. Community Service Volunteer

4. Empathizer/Big-Hearted Kid

5. English Language Learner

6. Enthusiastic Hobbyist

7. Future Graphic Designer

8. Future Journalist

9. Future Lawyer

10. Future Musician or Artsy Writer

11. Likeable Underachiever

12. Kid with Lots of Medical Absences

13. Pillar of Moral Strength

14. Role Model for My Own Child

15. Quiet Science Student

16. Warrior for Social Justice

17. Embodiment of Growth Mindset

18. Sweet Kid from Low-Income Family

19. Kid with Tenacious Work Ethic

20. Well-Rounded Student

This bundle also includes two BONUS letters of recommendation for a student teacher and co-worker. Also, you’ll receive a copy of the Letter of Recommendation Request Form (.pdf), a helpful tool to help you gather the information you need to personalize your students’ letters. The Letter of Recommendation Request Form is also available here as a free item in my shop.

Thanks for stopping by!