You started (and finished) your portion of the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation Scholarship application. What do you need to do next? Letters of recommendation.
If you are applying for an undergraduate scholarship, you only need two. If you are applying for a graduate or continuing education scholarship, you will need three letters. Let’s take a deep dive into the who, what, and how of the requirements.
The Who: One letter must come from an Alpha Delta Pi alumna volunteer at the local, district, or international level. What exactly does this mean? It means your favorite advisor, your province director, your District Philanthropy Director, the president of the local ADPi alumnae association, a sister on Grand Council, a Foundation Board of Trustees member, an International Officer…any sister who serves our organization as a volunteer. Please note, this does not mean any alumna. So your big diamond cannot write your letter, a woman who wrote you a recommendation during recruitment cannot write your letter, an older sister who showed up to bring food to your chapter during Spirit Week cannot write your letter *unless she fits the criteria listed above*. Please make sure to specify who is writing your letter.
Your other letter(s) must come from a professor who has instructed you in a classroom setting. This professor MUST also instruct you in your major or minor. So for example, if you are a PR/Communication major with minors in dance and German, your freshman biology professor cannot write your letter. However, if you are a Nursing student, your biology professor would be an ideal person to write your letter.
If you have been out of school for two or more years, you can ask your supervisors at work to write your letters.
People who cannot write letters for you include: professors not in your major/minor, Greek Life Advisors, Deans, Guidance Counselors, Academic Advisors, or Administrators *unless they have taught you in a class in your major/minor*.
The What: The letter of recommendation singing your praises as a human, a sister of Alpha Delta Pi, and a scholar. This letter should be personal and should give the people reading (and scoring) your application a glimpse into what a stellar applicant you are. The letter should show us WHY you should receive a scholarship over the hundreds of other applicants.
We have a lot of new Delta members apply, which is wonderful! But if you’re thinking, “I don’t know who I can ask…” then here is your answer. Ask someone reliable who fits the criteria mentioned above. Instead of sending them your resume, ask to meet you in person (and yes bring your resume) but tell YOUR story – who you are, why you want this scholarship, why you chose your major, why you chose ADPi, what has made you who you are today. This will allow your letter writer to craft a personal and inspiring letter on your behalf!
Here is a post last year specifically for Advisors on this very topic!!!
The How: Once you fill out the contact information on your application, an email will automatically generate to the person you want to write your letter. They will receive an email that looks like this…
They will click the link, answer one question, and be asked to upload their letter. Once they click submit, you will be notified via email. Make sure you SUBMIT your application…as soon as all your letters are in, your application will be complete!
Changes: Since your link is completely unique to your application and completely unique to where you’re inputting your letter of recommendation information, changing the names and emails of the people you have requested to write your letter will confuse the system. A new link is not generated, it is the same link that was sent to the first person. This being said, please make sure you give some thought to who you want to wri
te your letter AND make sure they can do it by the March 1st deadline the first time around. If not, you will have 2 (or more) people trying to upload their letters to the same space…as you can imagine that can get very messy very quickly.
If you have any questions about this or anything scholarship related, please check out the FAQ page first! If you still have questions please contact foundation@alphadeltapi.com.
Excellent!!!
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