Letters of Recommendation have been replaced with Online Recommendation Documents. This will streamline the process of scholarship recommendation for students, professors, and the scholarship committees.

Professors may either e-mail their recommendations to admission@dornsife.usc.edu or complete the online recommendation form.

The recommendation needs to answer at least the following questions:

1. How have you interacted with this student in class/research/mentoring etc.

2. Do you honestly recommend him/her for the scholarship, yes or no?

3. If yes, please explain why this student deserves a scholarship, or simply attach the text of a letter of recommendation.

Here are the steps to follow to complete the recommendation process:

Make an appointment to meet with the professor that will be recommending you for a scholarship. 

It must be a USC Dornsife faculty member; TAs are not acceptable sources for recommendations. The professor may not be from a USC professional school (i.e. Annenberg, Marshall, Viterbi). The meeting does not have to be long or formal - a brief chat with the professor during their office hours is fine. You should discuss the professor's classes or activities you have participated in, and what your future plans are. Make sure to tell them that you are applying for scholarships, and that they should expect to get an e-mail containing a link to the Online Recommendation Document. This meeting must be in-person. Under no circumstances, except study-abroad, will an e-mail or phone call work as a substitute to an in-person meeting.. After you have this meeting, you need to submit your name and student ID, the professor’s name and department, and the professor’s e-mail address to us, just like this:

Tommy Trojan

4567891234

Professor Brad McMahon

Anthropology

bmcmahon@usc.edu

Send this information in an e-mail, with subject line “FACULTYREC”, to: admission@dornsife.usc.edu. Successful submissions received after January 1st will receive an email response from USC Dornsife Admission within 1 business day of submission.

The deadline for this email is Sunday, February 5, 2012. If you send this email late, please be advised that we cannot guarantee completion of your letter of recommendation by the February 24th Application Deadline.

The Online Recommendation Document will be sent to your professor for completion upon receipt of your email. Remember, you should tell them in your meeting to expect an e-mail from USC Dornsife Admission.