Trumbull College

Academic Resources

Trumbull Writing Tutor

Jan Simpson
Trumbull College Room 26

Trumbull Science Tutor

Carly Shanahan GRD ‘13
Chemistry
Trumbull College Room 14

Yale Tutoring

Yale College Writing Center http://www.yale.edu/writing/
The Yale College Writing Center supports writers and writing teachers through the resources on this website, free tutoring at the Center and in the residential colleges, and through workshops about writing and teaching techniques. The Center’s mission comprises some of the most fundamental aims of a liberal arts education. Writing well is the hallmark of an educated person, and writing is also an indispensable component of advanced research in most disciplines. Writing helps us develop the intellectual practices that distinguish passive from active learners; it helps us take ownership of what we learn, and move from accumulating other people’s knowledge to producing our own. Learning to write helps us develop habits of mind that enrich every aspect of life.

Science and Quantitative Reasoning http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/sqr/index.html
This website contains information about academic resources for Science and Quantitative Reasoning education in Yale College.

Center for Language Study

Center for Language Study http://www.cls.yale.edu/
A center of coordination and resources for the more than fifty languages taught at Yale, the Center for Language Study (CLS) provides leadership and support for pedagogical innovation, professional development (including workshops and informal seminars offered in collaboration with language programs), and implementation of new methodologies in language instruction and learning. Through the DILS program, the CLS also offers opportunities for independent language study.

Dossier Service for Letters of Recommendation

If you wish, your residential college dean’s office will maintain for you a “placement file,” (also called a dossier service) consisting of letters of recommendation that you have solicited from instructors and others. When you want these letters to be sent, your dean’s office will, on your instructions that are stated in the dossier file forms, forward photocopies of your letters to the person or institution that you designate.

Dossier Forms

Dossier File Forms
Recommendation Worksheet
Requesting a letter of recommendation
Confidential Statement Dossier Form

When Should I Begin a Placement File in My College Dean’s Office?
While it makes sense to request a letter from an instructor while impressions of you are still fresh in his or her mind, most letters are not sought – and perhaps should not be sought – until the junior year. In general, current letters of support carry more weight than older ones. By and large, you want the testimony on your behalf to reflect the best and latest of your Yale career.

How Many?
This depends on your plans. For many medical schools, a half-dozen is not too many. For certain law and medical schools, however, two or three is the allowed maximum. You may acquire more, but keep this in mind: even if a school allows an unspecified number to be sent, there is a danger in swamping the admissions committee with so many statements that they miss the punch of the two or three especially good letters you may have. If submitted by themselves, those letters are more likely to be read carefully. Do not casually request letters if you do not intend to use them. Faculty members take these requests seriously and spend a considerable amount of time honoring them.

From Whom?
The answer to this question depends on the eventual use of the letter. Your first need is to have evidence of your academic ability expressed by someone in a position to do it persuasively. If you are applying to medical school, letters from instructors able to comment on your ability in the natural sciences are essential. Law schools, while not requiring any specific preparation, are concerned with your ability to think logically and to express yourself clearly in writing and in speaking. Graduate schools look for letters testifying to your ability to do advanced work independently.

You should not always go to the person with a prestigious title for a letter. The eventual readers of these letters look for evidence that the referee knows you, so ask accordingly.

If you are a transfer student or have taken courses elsewhere, a letter from a faculty member outside Yale would be appropriate. You should, however, have at least one letter from a Yale faculty member.

Most law schools either require or recommend a “dean’s certification letter.” The function of this letter is to provide an overview of your Yale record, both academic and extracurricular, and a personal assessment from someone who has come to know you. Law schools ask the dean to certify that you have not been in any academic or disciplinary difficulties and to explain these if they have occurred. Finally, you certainly would be wise to ask for a recommendation from someone who knows you outside Yale whenever such a letter could provide testimony concerning special experiences or talents. A summer employer, a volunteer work supervisor, or a person for whom you have worked in an internship is a possible referee.

How Do I Ask for a Letter?
When you decide on those whom you would like to write on your behalf, ask them in person if possible. You may suggest an interview or at least provide them with an up-to-date résumé and any other information they might need to write a good letter. Let your referees know clearly the uses to which the letter will be put, as, for example, for applications to law schools, medical schools, or business schools, or for applications for employment after graduation. Give them an addressed envelope (either to your college dean’s office or to the Health Professions Advisory Board, 55 Whitney Avenue) along with the recommendation form. Most important, give them time; do not wait until the last minute.

Which Form Should I Use?
Your residential college dean’s office keeps confidential statement forms in stock. When you sign the waiver on this form, you relinquish your right to any future access to that recommendation letter.
Please note: letters for use in connection with application to medical or law school must not be sent to your Dean’s Office. Remember, if you are applying to medical school, you must use the forms provided by the Health Professions Advisory Board. Placement files for pre-medical students are maintained in the office of the Health Professions Advisory Board at Undergraduate Career Services, 55 Whitney Avenue, where the appropriate evaluation forms may be obtained. On the other hand, placement files for pre-law students are usually maintained through Law School Admission Council (LSAC). However, if you are applying to a graduate school you must use the forms supplied by your dean. It is advisable to request recommendations from your referees for graduate school or for employment.

How Do the Letters Get from My College Dean’s Office to Where I Need Them?
Easily! Provide the senior administrative assistant with stamped, addressed envelopes (no return addresses, please – the office return address is used). It is important that all such requests be made in writing.

Timing is crucial. There is always a crunch at the end of the fall term to get letters out. You help everyone, yourself included, if you complete your placement file by December 1. This is even more important if you are completing your degree requirements in December; if that is the case, before you leave New Haven, you should check with your dean’s office to see if your file is complete.

As far as is possible, make all your requests of the administrative assistant at one time. If your directions are clear, most requests can be processed within one or two working days.

What Are the Procedures for Institutions Requesting Totally Assembled Application Packets with Letters of Recommendation Enclosed?
Some institutions request students themselves to assemble all of their application materials, including letters of recommendation, and to mail them together to the institution as an all-inclusive packet in the same covering envelope. Yale cannot cooperate with this arrangement, because it might seem to compromise the strict confidentiality of students’ letters. That is the case even though the letters would be in sealed envelopes, since the arrangement would nonetheless involve actually handing over to students themselves copies of their references. Instead, your college dean’s office must send your letters of recommendation to these institutions in exactly the same way that it sends letters to other institutions. That is, you should give to your dean’s administrative assistant stamped envelopes addressed to the institution; the administrative assistant will place copies of your letters in those envelopes and mail the envelopes directly and separately to the institution. Included with the letters of recommendation are cover letters that explain Yale’s policy of sending the letters separately. You yourself mail your “all-inclusive” application packet to the institution, minus the copies of the letters of recommendation on file in your dean’s office. We suggest that you enclose a note in the packet stating that your college dean’s office is sending your letters separately, and that it is Yale’s policy to send them in that way.

Yale has checked with institutions that request all-inclusive application packets, and they have assured us that our method is acceptable to them. There is a good reason for Yale’s policy. College deans certainly trust their students not to read their letters of recommendation. Nevertheless, if members of the faculty are to remain confident that residential college deans’ offices are totally secure repositories of confidential letters of reference, any arrangement by which anyone other than the college dean or the administrative assistant possessed the letters before they are mailed might possibly compromise trust in a system that is so convenient and advantageous to students, and that has been worked out so successfully over the years between the deans’ offices and the faculty.

There’s No Letter!
Unfortunately, this is an all-too-frequent complaint. You have done everything you can do, and Professor X still hasn’t come through. Politely, but firmly, let him or her know that the letter is vital and that a deadline is approaching.

You should check your placement file periodically during the term to see if any requested letters have not yet arrived. If time is running out and any are still missing, tell the administrative assistant. Give the assistant properly addressed and stamped envelopes and request that when they arrive, the letters be duplicated and mailed promptly. This procedure might get your application completed just under the wire.

What Happens after I Graduate?
Your placement file is kept after your graduation. The procedure for having letters sent is the same as that outlined above. Make sure you include your year of graduation on your request, and include postage. This service is free of charge while you are an enrolled student in Yale College and for the first year thereafter; beyond this point there is a fee of $5.00 for each packet mailed. The fee must accompany your request.

Requesting Strong Letters of Recommendation

1. Approach potential recommenders first as advisers. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Discuss your larger interests and goals. Ask for their advice about potential projects, reading, courses of study, graduate programs. . . . These conversations will be invaluable in themselves, but they will also allow you to judge who is likely to be your most enthusiastic recommenders; these meetings will also allow those who write for you to write more informed and more personally engaged letters.

2. Ask someone who knows you well and who will be able to discuss in specific detail what distinguishes you.

3. Ask well in advance of the deadline. Two to four weeks may be adequate. But it is often helpful to consult with the recommender to see how much lead-time is needed. This is especially true for letters for major fellowships and for letters to be written over the summer.

4. Ask: “Do you feel you know me (or my academic record, my leadership qualities) well enough to write a strong letter of recommendation for the X scholarship?” You’ve now given the professor the opportunity to decline gracefully. If the answer is “no,” don’t push. This inquiry may be done via email-if you already have an established relationship with the potential recommender.

5. Schedule an appointment with your recommenders to discuss the scholarship, its selection criteria, your most recent and commendable activities, and to suggest what each recommender might emphasize. (You may want to let your recommenders know who your other recommenders are, so that they can write letters that complement rather than repeat one another.)

6. Bring to this meeting:
* A current resume or a list of your activities and honors. Be sure to include internships or work/research experience, community service, conference papers/presentations, other creative or leadership experiences.

* A copy of your personal statement, project proposal, and/or course of study proposal, or other descriptive information from the application (information about career plans, foreign travel experience, or non-academic interests is sometimes requested). If you have not yet completed these materials, provide an informal version in the form of a 1-2 page statement.

* Any pertinent reminders about the work you have done for this professor that will help you highlight what makes you a strong candidate; past papers or exams are especially helpful.

* A copy of your transcript (if applying for a nationally competitive fellowship). This can be an unofficial copy and is to give your recommender an overview of your academic program to-date as well as your grades. If your grades are not what you think they should be, be ready to identify any extenuating circumstances (e.g. family or other responsibilities, number or level of courses taken).

* The official description of the criteria the recommender’s letter should address and the deadline by which the letter is due. Supplement this description with your own suggestions as to what you would like your recommender to emphasize.

* Any cover sheets or official recommendation forms that should accompany the letter. Be sure to complete any section that pertains to you: name, address to which the letter should be sent, etc. Each scholarship is different. Make sure you have waived your right to access under the Family Rights and Privacy Act. Selection committees often fail to take non-restricted letters seriously.

* If you are asking for more than one letter (as for graduate school or multiple fellowships), provide the following information on a separate sheet, as well as stamped and addressed envelopes for each fellowship:

• To whom each letter should be addressed (individual or committee, relevant titles, address).

• Whether each letter should be mailed directly to the funding agency (as in the case of the Rhodes, NSF, Mellon) or remitted to the Office of International Education and Fellowship Programs for inclusion in the application packet (Truman, Goldwater, Udall, Marshall).

• The deadline. Be sure to distinguish between a “postmark” and a “received by” due date.

7. Be ready to discuss: why you seek the recommendation; what strengths, qualifications, preparation, achievements, skills or goals make you a strong candidate for this opportunity and help distinguish you from other candidates; what points you would like the recommender to emphasize or address.

8. If a recommender asks you to provide a draft of your own recommendation, you may ethically provide a list of bullet points you would like the letter to address and/or factual narrative of key achievements (avoid adjectives) — along with other supporting information such as listed above. Explain that you are unable to write a draft that provides the kind of judgment and comparative evaluation that only the recommender can provide and that helps make for a strong recommendation.

9. Finally, be sure to write your recommenders a note of thanks and let them know what happens

Adapted from a handout provided by Jane Curlin, Willamette University

The Registrar’s Office maintains data and provides services for students, deans and administration in Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in the areas of academic records and student status; registration, enrollment and course information; and tuition and housing.

Transcript Requests

Transcripts are official Yale College documents and are issued only by the Registrar of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. They may be ordered by mail, on line, by phone (888-290-0690), or in person at the Registrar’s Office, 246 Church Street. Please refer to http://www.yale.edu/sfas/registrar/#transcripts regarding transcript requests. For each transcript order, the charge for the first transcript is $7.00; there is a charge of $3.00 for each additional transcript ordered at the same time. Orders are usually completed within five business days after they are received. Note, however, that mailed requests go through both the U.S. and campus mail and may take a week or more before they are received by the Registrar’s Office. (The Registrar’s Office is closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day when many applications are due. You should therefore allow extra processing time at that time of year.) It is sometimes possible for the Registrar’s Office to accept rush orders. For these orders, there are additional processing and mailing fees. The Registrar provides in each student’s fall registration packet, free of charge, a copy of the student’s academic record to date, but this unofficial document should not be confused with the official transcript required by graduate and professional schools.

Other Resources

Center for International Experience

http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/international/
Each year hundreds of Yale students set out across the globe to experience other cultures through study, work, and research abroad. They have many goals and each student has a unique plan, but they share the understanding that thoughtful, well-planned time abroad can help them prepare for life in this age of globalization.

Office of Fellowship Programs

http://studentgrants.yale.edu/
This website brings together in a comprehensive, searchable resource those grants and fellowships funded and/or administered by Yale. Most of these are open only to Yale students and are available from Yale’s schools, departments, and programs, while others are national competitions to which Yale nominates candidates.

International Internships

http://www.yale.edu/career/students/intern/itl_programs.html
The Undergraduate Career Services Bulldogs International Internship programs provide students with a rich, rewarding experience of working and living for eight or nine weeks of the summer in cities around the world.

Yale Study Abroad

http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/international/opportunities/type/study/index.html
Yale College encourages all students to study abroad. To make this possible, the Center for International Experience (CIE) offers you an exciting array of study abroad opportunities. Whether you go for a summer or year, study in English or in another language, study abroad advisers are available to help you sort through the different programs to find the one that best suits your goals and interests.

Yale Summer Session

http://www.yale.edu/summer/application/welcome.html
Yale Summer Session provides students with a unique opportunity to interact with some of Yale’s top scholars and teachers in an intimate environment. The program offer a wide sample of the courses taught during the academic year: during your summer at Yale you can delve into the mysteries of molecular biology, learn the rudiments of the Chinese language, create your own digital film, or travel abroad with a member of the Yale faculty. College students find summer an excellent time to fulfill requirements for graduation or to prepare for medical school or graduate school.

Undergraduate Career Services

http://www.yale.edu/career
Yale Undergraduate Career Services offers career counseling, professional school advising, employment and internship opportunities, and career development resources. Our office works with Yale undergraduates and alumni to clarify career aspirations, identify employment and educational opportunities, and offer counseling and support at every stage of career development.

Resource Office on Disabilities

http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/resource-office-disabilities
The primary mission of the Resource Office on Disabilities is to facilitate individual accommodations for students with disabilities, and by so doing, work to remove physical and attitudinal barriers, which may prevent their full participation in the University community.
Often, the physical barrier is the easiest to remove – the attitudinal barriers are much more difficult. To create a university community, which is truly accessible to and inclusive of all persons, including people with disabilities requires the participation of each and every member of the community. Toward this goal, the Office serves as a resource and a catalyst for change by providing technical assistance, information, and disability awareness training to any member of the Yale community.