Scholarships & Schools

Scholarships & Schools 101: Getting and Keeping References
By Morgan James

You want to get into the best schools, and pay for your education, but to do both you need references. You begin applying for schools and scholarships, until you realize that you need to get 3 reference letters for each scholarship or application. What next?

Finding Referees

In order to find referees, you need to determine how many references you need. Do you need 18 reference letters? Do you need 7 online forms filled out? Do you simply need the contact information for 3 references?

Once you have established how many references you will need, you can figure out how many people will meet that need. Often, to get 30 or more references, you will only need 3 or 4 people. Once your referee writes you the first letter, the hard work is done. It often doesn’t take too long to have your references tailored for each application.

It is also important to establish what type of reference you need. Do you need to have all academic references from teachers and professors? Or can you have a few references from community sources? Take this into consideration when planning your references.

Asking for References

You now need to ask for references. When you ask for a reference, be specific. Say, “Will you please be my reference for my application to X college? I need you to fill in an electronic application by November 12th.”

Ask someone that you trust to give you a good reference, and someone that will be organized enough to complete the package properly. You don’t want your application to suffer because of another person’s mistakes.