LoginsFormat requirements
| Requirement | Rule |
|---|---|
| Length | Two single-spaced pages or less |
| Margins | One inch on all sides, measured to the text. Printed letterhead may extend into the margin. |
| Font | 12-point |
| Letterhead | A letter uploaded as a PDF should be on institutional letterhead. (Writers at facilities that do not permit letterhead, such as some federal laboratories, are exempt.) |
| Signature | A letter uploaded as a PDF must be signed |
| File format | Type the letter into the narrative box, or upload the signed letter as a PDF |
| Hyperlinks | Do not include hyperlinks — materials hyperlinked to letters will not be read |
Letters that do not meet these requirements will not be read — Campus Representatives are instructed to return non-compliant letters for revision.
Where and when to send it
1
Type your letter in, or upload it as a PDF
Either type the letter into the narrative box, which holds about two pages, or print it on institutional letterhead (unless your facility does not permit it), sign it, and upload the signed version as a PDF.
2
Email it to the student’s Campus Representative
Not to the Foundation and not to the student — by the campus deadline the CR gave you.
3
You submit it yourself
Letter Writers submit their own letters to the online application system. The Campus Representative submits the nomination itself, and can see whether your letter has arrived. Meet the campus deadline your Campus Representative gave you — it falls before the Foundation’s nomination deadline.
If anything prevents you from delivering the letter — or you realize you cannot write a strong one — tell the Campus Representative immediately so an alternate writer can be arranged. Writers can be substituted up until nominations close on the last Friday in January at 5:00 p.m. Central Time.