Postgraduate Recommendation Document Templates

Disclaimer: This article is not original. The original address was the King-of-Pigeon repository on GitHub by yuezih, but the author has since deleted the repository. The reason for the original author deleting the repository is that the pigeons in their group flew away, so we still advocate for everyone to be cautious about ghosting teachers.

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--- ### What's New

• 2022/10/27 Overhauled and removed some useless content.
• 2022/04/08 Added Resume (or CV) template and Festival Wishes templates.
• 2022/03/15 Some updates to meet 100 stars!
• 2022/03/14 We published a Python package with the Python Package Index, try pip install pigeonking && pigeonking!
• 2022/03/14 Reimplemented the code with Github Copilot.
• 2021/11/07 Added How to Breakup Without Just Cause template.
• 2021/09/17 Added Recommendation Letter Request and Recommendation Letter templates.
• 2021/09/16 Added Self-recommendation Letter template and Offer Confirmation template.
• 2021/09/14 Published Pigeoning and Licking Back template. We hope these templates will help you get up the courage to explain to the mentor as soon as possible.

0.1 Resume

This repository provides a resume template 【Click to Download】, along with some suggestions for making resumes, hoping to be helpful to you.

1. Overview

• This template is made with PPT and can be exported as a PDF after modification. The background is a white image the same size as the page, making it easy to select all-save as image-share as an image.
• It is not recommended to use red/blue background photos (personally feel they don’t look good). You can use Office’s built-in cutout tool (double-click the image to activate the picture format in the options tab, “Remove Background” on the far left of the menu bar) to cut out the portrait and place it on a light or gradient gray background.
• Font size, spacing between different sections, etc., can be adjusted according to the richness of the content. If the content is relatively sparse, increase the font size and spacing between sections.

2. Highlight Strengths and Avoid Weaknesses

• Sections like research, competition, and projects have high flexibility. If one aspect is weak, you can emphasize other aspects at length to take up space. For example, in the template resume, Zhang Tiangou has no competitions, so he expands on research and project experiences and simply doesn’t write about competitions.
• Distinguish between primary and secondary, the proportion between sections should be differentiated, student work, and social practice sections should be smaller than important parts like research experience. The resume should strive to present the abilities the teacher hopes you have.

3. Less is More, Get to the Point

• If you have some things with low value, it’s not advisable to write everything down. You can use etc. to include these contents. For example, besides the national award, Zhang Tiangou has some less significant awards, so he uses one line to summarize the honors and awards, adding several sports/art awards, etc. at the end, which can alleviate the embarrassment of Zhang Tiangou not having many awards and give the teacher the illusion that there are many more awards hidden in the etc., while also reflecting Zhang Tiangou’s unique and refined taste through this aloof and disdainful attitude.
• The degree of control over the etc. needs to be well managed. Anything with a bit of value can be written down, and then with resume layout (font size, spacing, etc.), when the content just fills the entire page, **the teacher will think that the etc. in your resume is because the resume couldn’t fit everything, not because it’s too insignificant. At the same time, pay attention to the selection of the gatekeeper for insignificant awards, that is, the last award listed. What you omit must be less significant than this, and the gatekeeper shouldn’t be too weak.
• Some students know they don’t have many awards, so to make it look more, they like to put each award on one line, forming a list. This is actually not good, as the teacher will know all your awards are here, not one more. Personally, I suggest still adopting a low-key strategy and putting more effort into other sections. (Unless you really can’t fill a page)

4. The Art of Language

• Resume language should be concise, avoiding verbose language. Besides that, pay attention to embellishment, not much to say, let’s give a few examples~
• The person in charge of the innovation project can say As the person in charge, led the innovation project, leading the team... or Independently led the innovation project...
• High start and low finish in innovation projects can highlight strengths and avoid weaknesses: Mid-term review excellent (29/112), successfully concluded
• Applied for patent "xxx" changed to Submitted patent "xxx" as an inventor, currently under review
• If the innovation project really has no results, you can say Currently achieved phased results
• "Little Breakfast" research team leader changed to Campus dining service research team leader
• There are some other details, such as no need to say the percentage for rk1.

0.2 Recommendation Letter

1. Recommendation Letter Request
Dear Professor Zhu,
I am your student Zhang Tiangou from last semester’s Compiler Principles course. I am planning to apply for the postgraduate assessment of USTC School of Computer Science, and the other school requires a recommendation letter. Could you please help me by signing a recommendation letter?
If possible, I will write a draft and send it to you along with my resume. After confirming the content, I will print it out and come to you for a signature. (Or follow other arrangements as per your instructions)
If you are busy and it’s inconvenient, please let me know, and I won’t disturb you further.
Thank you!

2. Reporting Good News and Thanking
Professor Zhu, Hello!
With your strong recommendation, I have successfully passed the summer camp assessment of USTC School of Computer Science, received the direct PhD offer from my desired mentor, and confirmed it as my final destination. Thank you very much for your support and help during my postgraduate recommendation process, and also for your hard work and careful guidance in the Compiler Principles course. I will continue to work hard and not let you down. I sincerely wish you success in your work and happiness in life!

3.1 Recommendation Letter Template: Course Teacher Version
Dear USTC School of Computer Science leaders,
Hello! I am Zhu Chaoyang from the School of Computer Science, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and I am the teacher of Zhang Tiangou for the Compiler Principles course. I am pleased to recommend Tiangou to your institution for a doctoral degree.
Tiangou transferred from another major in his junior year, and I didn’t know him before, but this boy who always sat in the front row facing the podium left a deep impression on me. In my eyes, he is the kind of focused and steady “introverted top student” who likes to think independently. He never asked me questions and almost never answered questions in class, and then quietly scored full marks in my midterm exam. For a high-difficulty professional course like Compiler Principles, such a satisfactory performance is inseparable from his seriousness, intelligence, and carefulness. Outside of class, I observed that he actively participated in lectures by college teachers, learned about the forefront of discipline development, broadened his horizons, and helped himself better choose future research directions. He is a student with ideas and plans.
As a teacher with ten years of teaching experience, I believe that the many qualities Tiangou demonstrated in course learning will greatly benefit his future studies and research, and also show his research potential. I learned that he has already achieved good research results under the guidance of his past mentor in the School of Materials, although these may be completely unrelated to his future research direction, but this undoubtedly shows that he already has a certain research foundation and ability. Therefore, I strongly believe that he can handle the research work of a direct PhD student, being self-disciplined, steady, having ideas and abilities, and under your institution’s cultivation, he will certainly achieve outstanding results.
I sincerely hope that your institution will consider this excellent candidate and look forward to Tiangou finding his “Bole” at your institution! I wish the graduate admission work goes smoothly!

3.2 Recommendation Letter Template: Research Mentor Version
Dear members of the review committee of your esteemed college,
Hello!
I am Liu Huaqiang, a professor at the School of Materials, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and I am the research mentor of Zhang Tiangou during his undergraduate studies. I learned that he is preparing to apply for a doctoral degree at your college, and I would like to recommend him to you!
Zhang Tiangou has excellent grades and a solid foundation in mathematics and science. Through the college’s top talent training program, he joined my research group and has been with us for a year and a half. He is a very steady student, quickly settling down to read and organize literature after entering research. Despite the obstacle of a one-hour cross-campus commute, he has never missed a group meeting. In research, he has a strong thirst for knowledge and initiative. Besides extensively reading literature, he also borrows professional books from the school library to fill in his theoretical foundation gaps, which is very rare for undergraduates with relatively heavy coursework. He also has clear goals and plans, undertaking an innovation project alone without teaming up with classmates, just to get a complete research training through his participation from start to finish. These are the excellent qualities he has shown as a research newcomer, allowing me to see his research potential. During this year and a half of research experience, I have also witnessed his continuous growth: from being timid and introverted when he first joined the research group to confidently and fluently presenting at group meetings; from being an observer, participant, co-author, to independently completing his first-author paper… Despite the severe impact of the pandemic, with seven months unable to conduct experiments, and after transferring to a new major, needing to make up a whole year’s worth of courses, he still withstood the pressure and achieved very good results through his self-discipline and perseverance.
I believe that the good habits, attitudes, and qualities he has shown will certainly help him achieve excellent results in future research; on the other hand, through nearly two years of research training, he has experienced a complete training process from theoretical learning, experimental design to data analysis, and paper writing, and has a good research foundation. Therefore, I believe he is a promising talent, and even if he switches to a completely new research direction, he can quickly get started and achieve success.
I sincerely hope that your college will give Zhang Tiangou the opportunity to continue his studies and let him shine in the field of computer science in our country!

0.3 Contact

Dear Professor Zhang Lan,
Hello! I hope this letter finds you well.
I am Zhang Tiangou, an undergraduate student from the School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, class of 2018, hoping to be recommended to your research group for a master’s degree.
I am optimistic, kind, self-disciplined, and diligent, with a solid foundation in mathematics and science, and good project and research experience. I was originally a chemistry major and transferred to computer science in the fourth semester. In my junior year, under the pressure of making up two years of courses in one year, I still achieved an average score of 94.63 and many awards, ranking 1/713 in my major and 1/713 in comprehensive evaluation, and focused on research, completing four papers as the first author or co-author under the guidance of Professor Liu Huaqiang, including one CVPR published (first author), two ACM MM under review (first and third authors respectively), and one PNAS (student first author) to be submitted. In addition, I have rich algorithm internship experience (ByteDance, SenseTime) and solid English skills (IELTS 7.5, etc.), possessing the basic skills required for research work. I believe I have undergone a relatively complete research training during my undergraduate studies and am capable of handling research tasks as a graduate student. Most importantly, I am steady and focused, able to endure hardships, and have the confidence to achieve excellent results in future research.
The School of Computer Science, USTC, as the leading college in the field of computer technology in China, not only has strong research strength and a pure research environment but also has outstanding mentors like you who are versatile and nurturing, which I yearn for. I am very interested in the cross-domain application of data security, and data sharing transactions is one of the important directions that urgently need breakthroughs. Therefore, I am very eager to enter your research group for graduate studies and contribute to research in related fields. For this reason, I have applied for the School of Computer Science summer camp and listed you as my intended mentor, hoping that the USTC summer camp will give me the opportunity to become your student. But before that, I would like to ask through this email if you are interested in giving me this opportunity. If possible, I look forward to further contact with you!
Thank you very much for reading this far. I have attached my resume, and if you are interested, please feel free to download and review it.
Best regards,

Zhang Tiangou
School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
E-mail: tiangou@std.uestc.edu.cn
Tel/Wechat: 199-2021-0916

0.4 Confirm Offer

Professor Zhang, Hello, I am Zhang Tiangou, and I confirm that I will come to you for my PhD, and there will be no changes. Thank you very much for your recognition. If you have any other matters to instruct, please feel free to contact me. I apologize for replying so late and hope I didn’t disturb you. Thank you!

0.5 Ghosting

Professor Zhang, Hello, I am writing to you with great guilt to inform you that I plan to give up your PhD offer. Please allow me to sincerely apologize to you first.
Previously, I had received a recommendation qualification from Nanjing University, but the teacher told me there were no master’s degree slots available. Then I was pleasantly surprised and lucky to receive your invitation. At that moment, I almost didn’t need to hesitate, so I quickly gave you a definite answer. I thought there would be no changes, but the Nanjing University teacher suddenly informed me that a master’s degree slot had been reserved for me, which I never expected.
Honestly, I don’t know if I can continue on the research path, and as the only child from a humble family, the risk of pursuing a PhD needs to be borne by my family and me together. Logically, a master’s degree is undoubtedly a more suitable choice for me; but emotionally, I have already given you a promise, and a promise is a promise. After a long mental struggle, I finally decided to use this one-time breach of trust to exchange for a path that is more suitable for me in the long run. From another perspective, if I cannot face the risk of a direct PhD, while also being concerned about employment, this distraction may seriously affect my research work during my PhD, which is not conducive to my output and would betray your careful cultivation, so I may not have been a qualified candidate in the first place, and I sincerely hope you can find a more suitable student.
Delivering such news to you makes me feel very uncomfortable and tormented, but I believe your mood at this moment must be worse than mine. I know my actions have caused a lot of trouble for you and the college’s admissions work and have hurt your feelings. I sincerely apologize for my actions again and ask for your forgiveness. Finally, I wish you success in your research, a smooth life, family happiness, and all the best!

0.6 Licking Back

Professor Zhang, Hello, I apologize for disturbing you again. I never expected such a dramatic scene to happen to me: I misunderstood the Nanjing University teacher’s meaning, thinking I had received a master’s offer, but today I learned that the master’s degree slot cannot be guaranteed (the teacher’s language is very confusing, and several of my classmates have had the same experience).
A few days ago, when I received the Nanjing University teacher’s “verbal offer” and finally decided to choose Nanjing University, because I was afraid of delaying your admissions and causing you more harm, I immediately conveyed my decision to give up the direct PhD slot to you, for which I still feel apologetic. But now, the Nanjing University teacher’s unpredictability has made me lose confidence in this school. Although there is still a chance to be admitted as a master’s student, I have decided not to consider it anymore and have made up my mind to return to USTC and focus on research.
However, facing your invitation, in just a few days, I first affirmed it clearly, then reluctantly gave it up, and my fickle attitude not only caused you a lot of trouble but also hurt your feelings. Now, I am too ashamed to face you again, let alone dare to ask you to give me another chance. Moreover, with your esteemed reputation in academia, I believe you have already found a more outstanding candidate.
But today, I am presumptuously disturbing you to say that if you still have a valuable slot and are willing to give me a chance, I would be extremely happy to accept and give an absolutely reliable promise, and immediately join the research group, cherishing every moment and starting my research life.
In my twenty years of life, I have never caused such a big mess, and I don’t know if my behavior seems ridiculous or infuriating to you, but I am utterly speechless with myself… Maybe you have lost confidence in me, but if given the opportunity, I will do my utmost in the coming years to make amends.
Thank you for reading this far, and I apologize to you again.

0.7 Ghosting Again

Beyond my ability, no reference available.
If you must ghost again, use an uncontrollable factor as an excuse, such as:

Teacher, I was caught soliciting, and my recommendation qualification is gone, sorry.

0.8 Holiday Wishes

New Year Wishes

• Dear Professor Zhang, on New Year’s Eve, as we bid farewell to the old and welcome the new! I wish you and your family happiness, health, and success in the new year. May you always be young and full of vitality, nurturing students like the spring breeze, with a hundred trees flourishing. With full blessings, let’s move towards the future together!
• Dear Professor Zhang, the new year has arrived. I wish you and your family a happy new year, joy every day, a smooth life, and good health! I wish you success in your work and satisfaction in your research in the new year, with all the best!
• Dear Senior Sister, on New Year’s Eve, as we bid farewell to the old and welcome the new! I wish you and your family a happy new year and a prosperous Year of the Tiger! May you continue to lead us in growth in the new year with books in hand, pointing the sword south!/With the sky and earth vast, may you soar high, achieving great success in the new year!/Thank you for your careful help, wishing you success in your work and all the best!/With youth and ambition, may you continue to study and cross the seas in the new year!/(Same level) After sixteen years of hard study, may you strive forward in the new year, achieving all your wishes, and let's grow together!
• To be continued…