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Letter of recommendation · annotated sample

LOR from a project supervisor

How a subject teacher writes with technical detail that only they could know.

Closest to you if a professor who supervised your project is writing your letter.

For Aarav Kulkarni (fictional) · written by his project supervisor · 241 words

Notes reviewed by Ankit Jaiswal (M.Sc. Embedded Systems, TU Chemnitz · guiding Indian students since 2018) · September 2026

Fictional sample. Aarav and every college, company and number here are invented. Learn from the structure, but write your own words: many universities check applications for copied text, and a borrowed story will not survive an interview question.

The document, with reviewer notes

[College name and logo]

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering · [address] · [website]

5 February 2026

Note 1Letterhead and date first, exactly as on a printed letter.

To the Admissions Committee

Note 2A neutral address works when the same letter supports applications to several universities.

I taught Aarav Kulkarni Microcontrollers and Applications in the third year of his B.E. and supervised his final-year project in 2022–23. He earned an O grade in my course, which only seven of the 96 students in his class achieved.

Note 3Relationship, course and a grade put in context. "7 of 96" tells the committee far more than "excellent student".

His project, a CAN-bus battery monitor for an electric three-wheeler, showed how he works. When the voltage readings were noisy, most students would have added a software filter. Aarav traced the noise to a shared ground path between the motor controller and his ADC, redesigned the board layout, and documented both versions so the next batch could learn from the mistake.

Note 4Technical detail that only a supervisor would know. It supports the SOP's claim with a separate witness instead of repeating it.

He also volunteered in our embedded systems lab, helping junior students debug their boards. He was patient with them, and several asked for him by name in later semesters.

Note 5One sentence on character, backed by something observable.

Aarav's weakness as a student was a tendency to take on more than the timeline allowed; the Kalman filter he planned for his project was left unfinished. He knows this, and he has told me it is the first thing he wants to learn properly.

Note 6Honest, specific and connected to the applicant's own SOP. Consistency between documents is noticed.

I recommend Aarav strongly for a Master's in embedded systems. He is among the best hands-on engineers I have taught in the past ten years.

Note 7A clear, bounded judgement ("in the past ten years") instead of an unbounded superlative.

Yours sincerely,

[Signature]
[Recommender name]
Associate Professor, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering
[College name and address]
[official email address]

Note 8Signature block with an official email address.

Before you borrow this structure

  • Choose the professor who knows your work best, not the most senior name.
  • Give your recommender your CV, transcript and project report so they can be specific.
  • Make sure the courses, grades and project details match your transcript and SOP exactly.
  • Your recommender must write or fully review and sign the final letter.

Write your own version

Start from your own profile, not from Aarav's.

Prepare a draft for your recommenderDownload as Word (free account)

The Word file includes these notes at the end, and a fill-in outline is there too.

Want an expert to read your draft? Application review: One final expert check of your application documents before you submit.

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