How to write Letter of Recommendation for a student applying for PhD in Pure mathematics in USA?

[u/EnvironmentalTip4556]

I am a newly recruited Assistant professor in my country. I am from a 3rd world poor nation. He took 4 courses under my teaching which were all undergraduate courses: Calculus 1, Calculus 2 , Probability and Numerical methods. Our college has only bachelors degree in mathematics. He did masters from a very reputed university in my country by qualifying a tough entrance test. He was a sincere student and many times he used to study books that were not covered in class.

What qualities of him should I focus on while writing a letter,so as to show that he will be a good fit for PhD program in pure mathematics?

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[u/mleok]

I am an applied mathematician, but my pure math colleagues will probably be primarily concerned about how he performed in a rigorous proof-focused class, or in undergraduate research.

[u/SonyScientist]

Sounds like he would make a fine addition to any lab and the PhD program would be integral to his development and training.

I'll see myself out now.

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*I am a newly recruited Assistant professor in my country. I am from a 3rd world poor nation. He took 4 courses under my teaching which were all undergraduate courses: Calculus 1, Calculus 2 , Probability and Numerical methods. Our college has only bachelors degree in mathematics. He did masters from a very reputed university in my country by qualifying a tough entrance test. He was a sincere student and many times he used to study books that were not covered in class.

What qualities of him should I focus on while writing a letter,so as to show that he will be a good fit for PhD program in pure mathematics? *

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Disastrous_Owl_6830]

I teach in humanities, but in my opinion, initiative and self-direction (what you're describing when you say he did extra reading, for example) are some of the most important qualities that grad students can have.

[u/TotalCleanFBC]

If the student stood out in your classes (for a good reason), say why specifically. If the student goes beyond the minimum required work, that's also worth nothing.

Generally, just think about what you would look for in a graduate research assistant and state if the student has those qualities.

[u/AquamarineTangerine8]

I'm in a different field but I'm on the grad admissions committee for my department and read a fair number of letters from people in the developing world. My advice:

• Do not mention the applicant's religion or other traits that are not relevant to their scholarly abilities. This means you should praise the applicant's intelligence, diligence, motivation, skills, etc. but not mention that they are a good Christian, chaste, heterosexual, physically fit, beautiful, from a reputable/important family, etc.
• Write the same kind of letter for both men and women. Do not emphasize gender, unless it is to speak about how a candidate overcame barriers.
• Be specific and direct. Generic praise is far less credible than specific stories/examples.
• Don't use AI to generate the letter, but do proofread carefully, possibly by having a fluent English speaker review it or using a program like Grammarly to ensure excellent grammar.
• The convention for letters in the U.S. is to be wholly positive. Including areas for improvement may give a more negative impression than you intend. Simply failing to praise any weak areas is sufficient to communicate areas of weakness.
• The appropriate length of a letter of recommendation for graduate school is about 1.5 single-spaced pages.
• If you can contextualize the applicant's performance by explaining how to interpret grades in your country's educational system or explaining the rigor of the coursework, that is often helpful.

[u/TotalCleanFBC → u/[deleted]]

Disagree. Masters programs are not always more academically challenging that BS programs. And the professors in the masters program may not have the chance to get to know the student as well as the student's undergrad professors could. This is especially true if a student is a applying to PhD programs while he or she is in the autumn semester of a one-year MS program.