Recommendations

The University of Delaware’s graduate programs have moved toward exclusive use of electronic recommendation submissions. Exceptions can only be authorized by a direct communication from a UD graduate department.  Because UD requires the completion of a specific grid of questions by a recommender, we also cannot accept any third-party recommendation service or any individual letters already in the applicant’s possession.

How many recommenders will I need?

The majority of graduate programs at the University of Delaware require three (3) recommenders. There are a handful of programs that require only two (2), and those should be listed on the program’s admissions requirements website. Regardless, you will be prompted to enter the appropriate number of recommenders once you begin this process.

Who should I request as recommenders?

Each program wants to see recommendations from different types of individuals. Again, this is most often posted directly on the graduate program’s admissions website. If the website does not have it stated, please contact the graduate program of interest.

How the online recommendation process works:

The Recommendations module within the application is unique in that you can sign up your recommenders, send off the e-mail links, continue to re-send the links yourself, change your recommenders and, finally, see when the recommender completed the form via your status page – all before you click the final “Submit” button on your application. 

Note:  After you click the final “Submit” button, you can continue to have all the features described above except changing a recommender.  After submission you must contact our office to make this substitution or make any other changes to your application.  This is why it’s best to collect your recommendations prior to clicking the submit button on your application.

Helpful tips to successfully receive your recommendations: 

• Be sure you have spoken with your recommender first to see what their preferred e-mail address is for use in completing graduate recommendations.
• Double check the e-mail address you entered for spelling errors.
• Please note that notification emails will indicate "University of Delaware - Office of Graduate and Professional Education" as the sender but will come from support@applyyourself.com . If they use a spam-blocking tool, please ask them to add this email address to their list of known/safe addresses.
• Because you are able to re-send links yourself, use this function in moderation.  You won’t want to annoy your recommender by re-sending them the link too many times.
• If your recommender remains unresponsive, you may need to substitute a different recommender.  This is why it’s best to collect your recommendations prior to clicking the submit button on your application.