Recommendation letters:

Please do not be shy to contact me for a recommendation letter. I would be more than happy to help you apply to graduate schools. To write a helpful recommendation letter, I need to say something more than what is in your transcript and resume. Because of this, I typically only agree to write a letter if::

• We have done research together.
• You have taken Comp 330, Comp 360, or Comp 362 with me and received an A (ideally before applying a curve).
  
• You have taken Comp 330, Comp 360, or Comp 362 with me and received 90 or higher in the final exam.
  
• You have taken Comp 531 with me and have done very well in the assignments and the presentations.
  
• We had many interactions during the class and office hours. For example, if you answer a lot of my questions in the class, and I actually know you.
  

If you are going to send me an email requesting a letter:

• Please remind me which courses you have taken with me (including the semester). For example, you can say, "I took Comp360 with you in Fall 2021 and received an A grade." This will allow me to check your grades on mycourses.
  
• Attach your CV and transcript.
  
• I am not very good with email, so if I didn't reply to you, send me a reminder or try to catch me at my office.
  

Some points to consider:

• It is better to get a letter from someone who is known in the area that you want to work in the graduate school. For example, if you are applying to work on applied machine learning, the person reading the letter is less likely to know me.
  
• If you are applying to a business school, my letter will likely be not helpful at all. They typically look for letters that can comment on your business skills in professional settings.
  
• If I agree to write a reference letter for you, please remember that I write many letters for students. It will be very helpful if you apply to all the schools around the same time (or if that is not possible, then in two or at most three batches). This is because most application portals ask us to also fill out numerical metrics about your academic performance. If the letter requests come sporadically, we have to refresh our memory by looking at your CV, transcript, and the letter each time. This creates extra work.