LOR Sample for Germany : LOR Requirements for Top German Universities

A Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is one of the application documents for applying to German universities. Just like the statement of purpose (SOP) or the personal statement (PS), an LOR must reflect your personality and confirm your worthiness as a candidate for a particular program. This confirmation should come from a recommender who has observed your traits and witnessed your growth in certain aspects of your life/career. As you are unique, thus, each of your LORs should be unique and exclusive. This means that if are submitting more than one LOR, then each LOR should discuss different aspects of your personality and/or abilities.

A well-structured LOR for Germany should ideally be concise, typically ranging from 500 to 600 words or about one page long. An LOR should be concisely written within five paragraphs. The first paragraph introduces the recommender and their relationship with the applicant, while the subsequent paragraphs detail the applicant's academic abilities, personal qualities, achievements, and potential contributions to the program. The letter must be submitted on official letterhead and can be written in either English or German, depending on the university's requirements.

Letter of Recommendation for Masters in Germany

German universities may ask for signed LORs in the form of PDFs or ask for your recommender’s email address and send a mail with the LOR form or the link to a questionnaire or a few direct questions. These questions need to be addressed directly by the recommenders. As each university may have separate requirements for the LOR, you should always check the university requirements before preparing your application documents. Document requirements may also differ for different courses. You should check if the respective department requires the LORs to be in any specific format.

Before submitting your LORs to the university, you should also note the word limit, for example: 200 or 400 words or one page. Usually, German universities ask for a maximum of two LORs, from an academic background. In courses where work or practical experience is required, a professional LOR will be required. Academic LORs should be sourced from your subject teacher, school counsellor, college professor, project guide, or the Principal or Dean of the institution. Professional LORs should be taken from your supervisor, team leader/manager, reporting manager, project manager, department head, and such like. Generally, professional LORs, which are sourced from firms where you worked more recently, carry a higher value.

LOR for German Universities: Things to be included in an LOR

For Letter of Recommendation for German University, once you are well-versed with the university and course requirements, you should write a rough draft of the LOR. If two LORs are required, then first roughly draft a list of qualities that need to be included and strategically divide them among the two LORs. Make a note of which recommender can talk about which particular qualities, and then write your first draft. Here are some points which should be covered in your LORs:

• Academic prowess of the applicant
• Applicant’s participation in team exercises
• Applicant’s learning curve
• Difference/impact created by the applicant or his/her ideas
• Applicant’s interest in the subject/field
• Applicant’s reaction to setbacks or criticisms
• Applicant’s ability to face challenges or dire circumstances
• Applicant’s ability to analyse, take quick decisions, or overcome situations
• Involvement in other activities/contribution towards society/social causes
• Applicant’s achievements (professional or academic)
• Innovative and creative ability
• Leadership and/or team skills
• Communication and presentation skills
• Ability to take initiatives

Letter of Recommendation for Masters in Germany: Sample LOR

LORs may not be an essential requirement for the application process for all programmes in German universities. However, applicants are encouraged to submit them as it strengthens their profile, especially where practical experience is a must. Universities prefer academic LORs for course-based programmes. Professional LORs are required for programmes for which applicants must have some prerequisite work experience like business courses, and practical and research-based programmes. Let us have a look at a sample LOR for a German university.

“As , in the ____________ department at , , I am happy to write this letter for Mr. ABC. It is a pleasure to recommend him for the XXX graduate programme at your esteemed university. I have had the pleasure to know and work with him for the past _____ years. ABC first worked with me as an undergraduate intern in the _________ department at this organisation.

Following this internship, I was fortunate to keep a track of ABC’s career so that, when the opportunity arose, I was able to recruit him to his current position as in the ____________ department here. The same characteristics, namely __________ and ___________, to name a couple, which convinced me to hire him, are also why I am happy to provide him with an endorsement for his graduate study. ’s>

ABC brings enthusiasm and commitment to every project that he is assigned or takes up. This is to be expected in any successful member of an entrepreneurial organization, and in this regard, he fits in well. He consistently delivers high-quality software for our organization, such as ________________.

While ABC is a relatively new member at our department, as measured by tenure, he quickly established himself as a go-to person in the ________ domain by helping others. Once such example is when he was approached for a _________________ assignment. ABC’s knowledge and expertise came to light during a client meeting for _________. He was able to demonstrate skills like ____________ and ____________, and turn the meeting in our favour.

Apart from this, ABC’s broad range of interests speaks well of his potential as a researcher, especially in bringing a wide range of theories to the research at hand. I witnessed this during _______________.

With full confidence in ABC’s abilities, I am sure that he will prove to be an asset to your department just as he has been to our firm. His intelligence, commitment, and diligence, together make him an ideal candidate for this course. Hence, I wholeheartedly recommend ABC for your esteemed institution. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Yours faithfully,

Full name of the recommender

Designation, Department

Institution/Company Name, City

Contact No:

Email ID:

Institution website:”

Please note that the sample is only for your reference and you should NOT copy it.

LOR for Germany: LOR Requirements for Top German Universities

Now that you have a fair idea of how to draft an academic LOR for German universities, let us take a look at some general LOR requirements for Top German Universities:

TU Munich: TU Munich accepts academic LORs from college professors for graduate programmes. LOR submission is optional for undergraduate programmes. It is advisable to submit two or three LORs for Master’s programmes. The LOR should be submitted on an A-4 sized document and only one page in length. It needs to be written in English and should include the following points:

• How long has the recommender known the applicant?
• How would the recommender rank the applicant in comparison to other students?
• Is the applicant among the top 5%, 10% or 20% of his class?
• Other relevant information that can strengthen the applicant’s chances of acceptance

RWTH Aachen University: Applicants need to submit two LORs to most of the programmes at RWTH Aachen University. These can be either academic or professional LORs or a mix of both. LORs can be submitted in English or German language, depending on the course’s medium of instruction. Though there is no word limit, the LOR draft should not exceed two pages in length. The following aspects should be covered in the LORs:

• Relationship between the recommender and the applicant
• Academic or professional background of the applicant
• Applicant’s achievements in the chosen field
• Applicant’s character strengths and weaknesses
• Applicant’s goals and aspirations with respect to the work done and the course chosen

ESMT Berlin: As one of the top business schools in Germany, ESMT requires two professional LORs. One academic LOR is accepted if the applicant lacks enough experience. There is no specific format or guidelines given by the school. However, after uploading the LORs, applicants are required to enter the recommender’s information separately. LORs should be written in English and include the following points:

• Best qualities of the applicant
• Unique attributes of the applicant that separates him/her from other applicants
• Character weaknesses and how the applicant overcame them
• Innovative and creative approach
• Does the applicant have the required potential to succeed in the programme?
• Teamwork and leadership skills in the applicant
• Instances where the applicant showcased maturity and a sense of purpose

Common Mistakes to be Avoided in an LOR for German Universities

• Using the same LORs which you may have used for any other country can be an error in judgement. Always check the specific guidelines provided by the German University for the LOR.
• Going beyond the specified word limit can be another mistake. Unless specified by the university, please keep the content limited to 200-400 words or one page.
• Mentioning traits without examples or instances to justify them will not create any impression on the admission committee.
• Including same qualities in all letters of recommendation for Masters in Germany should be avoided. Every recommender must have something unique to mention about you, improving your chances of selection.
• Sending your LORs with spelling or grammatical errors can negatively impact your application. Hence, proofreading is a must.

Note: Letter of Recommendation for Masters in Germany should be written on the institution’s letterhead and should have the official seal and stamp of the issuing organization. It should also contain the recommender’s authentic signature or seal/stamp.

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