Letters of Recommendation and Professional References

Discretionary Nature

Letters of recommendation and professional references are discretionary. Professor Wandt will agree only when he can provide a truthful, specific, and appropriately supportive assessment based on meaningful knowledge of the student’s work, professionalism, ethics, and qualifications.

Eligibility: No Single-Course Letters

Professor Wandt does not write a recommendation letter for a student whose only experience with him is one course, regardless of grade or performance. Exceptional performance in that course is not an exception.

To be considered, a student must have proven performance, judgment, professionalism, and ethics over time through:

• work with Professor Wandt in multiple courses; or
• sustained research, advanced projects, or other substantive activities beyond one course that give Professor Wandt a sufficient basis to evaluate the student over time.

Request Timeline and Channel

Students should provide at least three to four weeks’ notice whenever possible. The initial request should be sent by private Discord message. Short-notice requests may be declined.

Required Materials

If Professor Wandt is willing to consider the request, the student should provide the materials through the channel he identifies. These commonly include:

• the opportunity description and deadline;
• submission instructions;
• a current résumé or curriculum vitae;
• an unofficial transcript when relevant;
• a list of courses, projects, or work completed with Professor Wandt; and
• concise bullet points describing accomplishments or qualities relevant to the opportunity.

Sensitive records should not be sent through Discord unless Professor Wandt specifically determines that the method is appropriate.

Right to Decline

Eligibility permits a request but does not guarantee a letter. Professor Wandt may decline or offer a limited reference when he cannot provide a strong, accurate, individualized recommendation or meet the requested timeline.