Robert Gazzale

Dept of Economics
University of Toronto

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Request for Reference (Letter of Recommendation)

I teach a lot of students. I want to provide references and recommendation letters that are informative. As a result, if you would like me to complete a reference form or write a recommendation letter, please email me the following at least 4 weeks before the first due date.

Personal Information

1. Your name as it appears on UofT records.
2. Your student ID number.
3. A photo. (I am better with faces than names.)

Our History

For each course you took with me, please list:

1. The course.
2. When you took the course.
3. Your final grade.

References Requested

For each reference form (or letter of recommendation recipient), please provide:

1. Institution.
2. Department.
3. Degree program.
4. Due date.
5. Electronic or paper. (If paper, you must provide all forms and envelopes.)

Supporting Documents

1. Most recent transcript.
2. A draft of any personal statement you will be submitting.

The Most Important Part

In approximately one to two paragraphs, please answer the following question: What do I believe Gazzale can say on my behalf?

Rationale: The first thing the admissions committee is going to do is look at your transcript. This means that if the only information I can provide is the grade that you earned in my course, my reference is worthless. I would thus love your perspective on the value added by my reference. You should definitely assume that I do not remember anything, so please do remind me about that great conversation we had about Uber's surge pricing, the topic of your great essay, or how you came to live in office hours after that disappointing term test result.