Dear Addimissions Officer:
I am writing this letter to support the admission of Wenli Lee to the Harvard Business School. I was Mr. Lee's teacher and advisor for several years between 1993 and 1995. We have met and talked several times since.
Mr. Lee's academic credentials are truly exceptional. He not only knows how to reason with numbers, but how to render incisive and imaginative arguments in English. Unlike most of the students I have taught from China(about 60 over the past 20 years) Lee immersed himself in American culture. He composed a joke as part of his first presentation analyzing a local plan. It worked. His classmates laughed and I was witness to masterful culture spanning. Lee came to us a confident individualist uniquely suited to cultural cross fertilization. He earned straight A grades in all my classes. Whether rendering a spread sheet analysis, crafting a graphic or writing a report, Lee always demonstrated uncanny mastery combined with critical wit. While many of the Chinese I have taught performed excellently in class, Lee alone has composed essays and talks that met the sensibilities and tastes of American classmates. Even more importantly he offered new ideas which they (and myself) could comprehend and even assimilate.
Lee has a deep reservoir of talent and ambition. He has already accomplished a great deal in the face of considerable challenge. He has worked hard bridging the cultural gulf separating thanticipate and even tame adversarial relations. I have every confidence that he will use these considerable skills to tackle organizational problems on a larger scale.
While a student in our graduate program, Lee took a job helping recovering drug addicts in the suburban community of Harvey. Harvey, an aging industrial suburb with an impoverished African American population, does not usually attract the interest and attention of foreign students from Asia. Lee swam against the strong currents of racism and fear associated with minority neighborhoods. Furthermore, he did so in a manner that added value to the community. Lee has labored for the ABC Authority, a large public bureaucracy, and currently works as a private marketing and research firm. This diversity of experience represents a crucial resource for Lee. He does not simply take jobs, but weaves these experiences together into a framework for understanding American institutions from the inside out. Finally, Lee plays with Americans. He does not hide out in Chinatown or the Chinese cultural center. He rock climbs and sails. He can tell hip from hoopla.
Lee is smart. But more important he has acquired wisdom in the culture of both China and the U.S. He wants to expand his considerable fund of wisdom and use it to provide cultural scaffolding for commercial ties between the U.S. and China. Lee's ambitions and abilities are in sync. He is poised and prepared to take this next step in an exciting journey. Not only will faculty and students thank you for admitting such a fine candidate, but so too will those employees, customers and citizens who will benefit from his future employ.
Sincerely,
David Smiths
Professor of ABC University
小贴士：
一份好的推荐信应该包括以下八个方面的必要内容:
教育背景——你的大学专业是什么，你为何选择这个专业，多年来的专业学习学到了什么，与你选择工商管理研究有什么关系。
工作经历——你曾经担任过什么样的职务，这几年来的工作中有什么业绩、学到了什么，与你攻读MBA有什么关系。
社会活动组织能力——在大学期间曾经参与或组织过什么活动，曾担任什么样的工作，从中又学到了什么。
最满意的一次经历——最满意的一项工作或学习经历是什么，是怎样做好它的。
最突出的才能——你认为自己最突出的方面是什么，如领导能力、组织能力、交流沟通能力或是协调能力。
学习计划和目的——你在攻读MBA期间的学习计划是什么，攻读MBA与你的'职业追求、职业目标又有什么关联。
奖励——你曾经受过何种奖励，你是否担任过助教，你是否有优秀的论文曾经得到发表或受到奖励。
特长爱好——你其他需要向商学院说明或解释的，如你的特长和爱好，或者你在某一方面，如学习成绩不够理想，需要向商学院解释的。
同时，如果你不想让你的自荐信埋没在数百名甚至数千名申请者的资料堆中的话，还要特别注意以下四点提示:
不要忽视东西方文化的差异。中国人一向视“谦虚”为美德，即使取得了不错的成绩也要学会有所保留，而西方人不仅追求“优越”而且还要善于表达出来，所以申请者在写自荐信时一定要把自己的长处毫不隐瞒地描述出来，使人一眼就能知道你优秀的方面。
要富有个性。虽然很多申请留学MBA的人都有大致相同的经历，但实际上他们还是有很多区别的，如生活背景、学习和工作成绩、所掌握的技巧等，申请者应力求在自荐信中突出自己在某方面与众不同的成绩、能力和优点。避免给人以“千篇一律”、“平平庸庸”的感觉。
要真实。美国人对一个人的诚实品质看得很重。例如在签证时，你什么“失误”都可以，惟一不能做的就是对签证官撒谎，如果你是因为撒谎而被拒签的话，那么再签成功率将会很低。因为撒谎是人格问题。也正因为如此，美国人觉得个人签字比盖章更有效。为了保证申请者材料的真实性，商学院甚至要求申请者的每一份简历都有签字。所以申请者在准备自己的个人材料时一定要注意材料的真实性。
不要太短或太长。自荐信长短一般以1~2页为佳，太短了，无法表达清楚，而长篇大论，校方又厌于阅读。