LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

General advice: I am often approached by students that I do not know well - or at all - who
need a letter of recommendation.  It is very difficult for a professor to write a letter
that will do much good if the letter is for a student who has never taken a course from
them or has taken only one and did not get to know the professor.  If you think you are
going to need letters of recommendation it is a good idea for you to get to know some
professors as soon as you can.  You can do that by taking courses from them and by
participating in class and also by going by during their office hours and discussing the
course with them.  However, you should also try to develop a friendship with a few faculty
members and discuss things not related to the class.  Discuss your plans and career goals
or options, ask their advice.  Ideally you will find a few professors that you enjoy and
who like you.  The more personal a letter of recommendation and the better the professor
seems to know the student about whom he or she is writing, the more weight the letter
should carry for those reviewing it.  

Advice and requirements for students seeking letters from me: Each semester I write a
great many letters of recommendation. In general, the more courses a student has taken from
me, the better I am  able to evaluate that student.  Similarly the degree of difficulty of
the course you took from me enters into the equation.  If you just took POL 102 or 309,
courses that have no term paper requirement and limited class discussion, I will not be as
familiar with your abilities as I would be if you took POL 470 or 471, courses that require
term papers and are taught by the Socratic method.  Those who read letters of evaluation want 
to know that the writer has a good basis on which to evaluate the overall intellectual
ability of the student as well as their writing and speaking  ability. The more clearly I
can show in a letter that I am familiar with the student, the more weight the letter will
carry with the reader. Obviously, taking several courses from me and getting to know me
should make it easier for me to write an effective letter for you - assuming you have not
bombed the courses and offended me personally! Consequently. if you are thinking about
asking me to write a letter for you eventually, you should make an effort to get to know
me, take more than one class from me, and try to enroll in one of my upper division 
courses.

Specific advice for Junior State students:  I am increasingly asked to write letters of
recommendation by those of you  who have taken my three week American government course as part
of the Junior Statesman Summer School on the campus of Georgetown University. Please note that
I cannot use the electronic recommendation form that is available to your high school 
teachers. I can only write a supplemental letter that must be sent individually to the
admissions offices of each school to which you are applying. That means you need to send me 
stamped, addressed envelopes. Send them to me at 139 Georgetown Green, Charlottesville,
VA 22901. Furthermore, your application to the particular school must have been submitted
before my letter arrives, or it may be "lost" by the admissions office. In general, I do not 
think that a letter from me will be of much help for you unless you have gotten at least an 
average grade of B+ on the exams and the term paper in my class (and the higher your grade the 
better). It would also help if you spent some time talking to me during the three week session 
so that I got to know you some. The more personal a letter is, the more likely it will have 
some impact. That is why, as a general rule, I think it is better for you to seek recommendations 
from your teachers and counselors at your high school.


If you do decide to request a letter, please furnish me with the following:

	1. a copy of your resume or vita

	2. your overall grade point average and your scores on any 
relevant examinations such as the ACE, SAT,  GRE or LSAT.

	3. a list of the courses you have taken from me, the semesters 
you took them, and the grades you received.

	4. Copies of any term papers or blue books from those courses.

	5. A copy of your personal statement, if you are willing to let 
me read it.

	6. any necessary forms, fully filled out as follows:

		a. If the form asks for my name, title, address, phone, etc., 
please fill in the following:
			James S. Todd
			Senior Lecturer, Retired (University of Arizona)
			139 Georgetown Green
			Charlottesville, VA 22901
			(520) 299-1328

		b. If the form ask you to either waive or not waive your right 
to see the letter, be sure that you fill that out as well.  Most admissions 
people tell me that they do not give anywhere near as much weight to a letter 
if the student has not waived his or her right to see it.  The assumption is 
that the professor will not be objective in evaluating the student.

	7. stamped, addressed envelopes.

	8. the deadline dates for the letters.