AboutKeith Berman Expertise I can answer questions regarding any part of the college and graduate school application process, such as:
1.) What are colleges looking for in an essay? If I wrote on [a given topic], would that help or hurt me?
2.) Should I include a portfolio of music in an application? How should I do it?
3.) Does applying for financial aid affect my chances of admission?
4.) Should I get a recommendation from a sophomore year teacher as opposed to a junior year teacher? Why?
5.) How much does the SAT/ACT matter in the admissions process at [a given school]?
6.) What are my chances at [a given school]?
Experience 2005 - Present, President, Options for College, Inc. (www.optionsforcollege.com), New York, NY
- Have worked with approximately 500 families and students on the college and graduate school admissions process
- Have trained over 200 guidance counselors in NY, California, and India
- Quoted in US News and World Report's America's Best Colleges: 2009, Boston Magazine, Boston Globe, Yale Daily News, Harvard Crimson, Columbia Spectator, and others
- Have published various articles on topics related to college admissions
2004-5, Interviewer, Harvard Undergraduate Admissions Office
2001-3, New York City Teaching Fellow
2001, American Institutes for Research
- worked on issues related to developing the Voluntary National Test
2000, Interviewer, Yale Undergraduate Admissions Office
Organizations AICEP, NACAC, IECA
Publications Publication list available upon request. Most common sources are US Department of Education and Education Update.
Education/Credentials 2007 - Present, Certified Educational Planner, AICEP
2006 - Present, NACAC, Voting Member
2006 - Present, IECA, Voting Member
2006, C.A.S., Harvard Graduate School of Education
2005, Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education
2003, M.S.Ed., Bank Street College of
2000, B.A., Yale University
Awards and Honors Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Grant (2006-7)
Received award/stipend for project entitled An Experimental Intervention: Assessing the Value of Personalized College Counseling for Low Income, High Merit Students. Award covers tuition. Project also received Mellon Foundation support.
Roy E. Larsen Award (2003-2004)
Received award that provides full tuition and fees plus a stipend to first-year doctoral students at Harvard Graduate School of Education in the field of research. Also received identical HGSE grant of same amount for the 2004-2005 school year.
New York City Teaching Fellowship (June 2001 - May 2003)
Selected participant in alternative certification and teacher recruitment program. Awarded $3,000 stipend and full tuition for an M.S.Ed. at Bank Street College of Education.
AmeriCorps (2002 and 2003)
Received two annual $4,725 educational awards for completing national service in education.
Past/Present Clients Yeshiva University HS for Boys, Rudolf Steiner School, Christian Unified Schools of San Diego, Merrill Lynch, NYU Family Life Center, Princeton Review ACS - India
Question Hello,
I am really confused about graduate schools and letters of recommendation and I have a few questions:
How important is it to receive a letter of recommendation from your major versus a minor or other field? Can I get letters from other areas?
Can I ask a professor to write a generic letter without the schools listed in the letter in order to get enough letters for all of the universities I plan to apply to? Can I take the letters they write and address them myself? I would feel more comfortable sending the letters myself and making sure they are mailed, but still keep them in their sealed envelope.
Thank you for your time.
Answer Dear Jai,
You are asking great questions -- many people deal with recommendations very haphazardly, and it hurts their chances of both acceptances and scholarships. Recommendations, especially for academic programs, are the keys to getting scholarships.
There are a few questions here. The first is about how to ask for a recommendation. You should set up a formal meeting with your professor (we'll talk about who to ask a little bit later) during his/her office hours of 30 minutes in length. During that meeting, you should arrive with a complete list of where you are going to apply, a resume, all relevant recommendation forms, and addressed and stamped envelopes for each of the universities, with all three in a folder.
This will be a roadmap for him or her in terms of who you are and where you are applying; coming in without any of this written down makes it hard for any professor to believe you are ready to enter his or her field.
The professor should use the same letter for each university; if they have a contact at any particular school, that should be exercised on the phone, not in the letter. Your profs have done this before, fear not, they will get it right.
At the meeting, you can volunteer to mail the letters yourself and even to sketch out what you'd like the professor to say (this is the gold standard), but you can't insist. Many profs want their recs to be sealed, and you have to respect that -- however, you certainly can ask them to seal the envelope so that you can mail them -- just tell them that you "want to make it as easy on them as possible" because they are doing you such a big favor.
During that meeting, you should explain your aspirations to both get the graduate degree, and explain where you would like to be professionally as a result of your graduate degree. For this reason, a professor whose background is relevant to your field is preferable. However, rule #1 of recommendations is that they have to be great. Asking a professor who is lukewarm about you is a mistake, so choose the professor who knows you best and is most impressed with you. If this means you might need two recommendations, that is fine.
Jai, please let me know what your questions are. Your conscientious approach to recommendations will surely help you, great questions.
