Okay, I have a quick question for fellow scholarship applicants. I've been trying to apply for every scholarship I'm eligible for. The problem is, most of them require between 1-3 reference letters. I have gotten a couple of teachers to write the letters for me, but I feel bad constantly asking them for copies. Is it acceptable to just photocopy a reference letter instead of bugging them all the time? Or is that sketchy? What do you guys do? Thanks.

definitely don't reuse a recommendation letter without permission of the person who wrote it.

Ask them to print out multiple copies and sign each one.

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-Stringer

yep I mustve had my main reference print and sign around 30-40 reference letters (since many scholarships ask for 3)... he give me this angry face ever time I tell him I need more, but he's mostly kidding.

Usually references won't mind as long as you're grateful! After I finished my run of scholarships (requiring dozens of letters!), I gave each of my references a thank-you gift (i.e. Purdy's chocolates, etc.). I also found my references didn't mind writing numerous letters because I gave them a letter, outlining a few activities that they can mention, the criteria of the scholarship, my contact info in case of questions, thanking them profusely, etc. Once I gave them something to work with, most said it was easy to write the letter and said they'd be happy to do so again.

That said, my letter that I wrote didn't TELL them what to write---it would say something like (off the top of my head)...

"The Something-or-other Scholarship looks for leadership, innovation, and community service in its candidates. My activities that you [the reference] have overseen, such as the 30-Hour Famine I organized and the Student Council (of which I am president) Christmas fundraiser for United Way, fit this criteria perfectly, which is why I would be greatly appreciative if you could write me this reference. Thank you!"

....Only in better writing style. But you get the point. I found that once references were given a starting point, they didn't mind. (Also works well if your reference doesn't actually know you that well!) That said, I tried as much as possible to just require a change in scholarship name and date, rather than having them start from scratch.

For the most part, referees (teachers) don't need to change reference letters very much from scholarship to scholarship, job to job.
They are often able to just change the "I am pleased to recommend HarrisBank for the ________".

Most of these awards are looking for the same things: leadership, community service, extracurricular involvement.
If you're getting a great reference, it likely also comments on your intellect, dedication, etc.
This means that you're likely covered on all fronts.

So, I've had one teacher write many references for me, without doing much revision, and I've done fairly well.

Typically, teachers don't mind either. It makes them feel good that they were the ones who wrote you a reference letter that helped you win said scholarship. They relish it.

So, ask away. If they like you, and want to help you win scholarships, they shouldn't have a problem if you keep coming back.

Why not just have them write a general one, saying they would "recommend you to pursue in all possible fields to become successful" and then photocopy it whenever needed?

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Carleton University Class of 2012, Honours Bachelor of Arts

My references have no problem altering the first line and printing me off new copies for each scholarship. Some of my high school teachers even gave me references this year (I just finished my first year of uni) and the only reason they did that was because they already had a letter written.

I also have written the reference letter myself and then given it to a reference to make changes, that way you get a well written letter backed by a reference, and sometimes it's the only way people like professors will give you a reference.

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University of Alberta - Mechanical Engineering '11

Yeah, I got a reference from my mechanics professor. There were about 200 people in the class, but as the year progressed not as many people showed up to class. I would always ask questions and point out mistakes so he knew who I was but didn't know my name. I also did quite well on the midterm. I only needed an academic reference, so I wrote that I had done well on my midterms and participated and had a 3.9 GPA, and showed him my high school and university transcripts as proof. And then after that he knew my name and it was awkward because in class if I asked a question he would say something like "Like Karla just pointed out..." and it was weird.

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University of Alberta - Mechanical Engineering '11

In a class of 200, yeah, there's not a whole ton of student/prof interaction going on.

If you are going to be asking for lots of references, I'd ask the people you are using as references what they'd like to do.

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