Frank Sottile Letters of Recommendation     Writing letters of recommendation is one of the most important things that I do. I take this task seriously; people's livelihoods as well as the functioning of our profession rests upon thoughtful, well-written letters. I also do this a fair amount, writing about 40 letters every year for a variety of reasons, from tenure and promotion to job applications to fellowships to graduate school applications to funding for travel, and for many other reasons.

    I am very willing to write a letter for a deserving candidate (which you presumably are). However, I need your help for this process to work. Please try to keep the following in mind:

• Time   I need to schedule time for this task. Contact me as soon as possible so that I can put this on my schedule; preferably three weeks before the deadline. During the peak period October—early December I may need two months.
• Task   Clear statement of what you are applying for (so that I know the task at hand).
• Deadlines   Deadline and information on submitting the letter.
• Statement   Any materials that you have with your application; CV, statement of purpose, application essay, research statement, etc.
• Meeting   If possible, we should meet to talk about your application. This is particularly important for undergraduate students, as I typically need to be educated about you and what you are applying for.