Dear Admissions Committee:

I am writing this letter on behalf of [Student Name], to give her my highest recommendation for your program. [Student Name] was a student in my [Course Name] during the Spring 2023 semester, and throughout that time she demonstrated the diligence, motivation and analytical thinking skills necessary for success: all traits that will serve her well as she continues her education and pursues her goals of obtaining a degree in Physical Therapy.

Over the course of my career I have had the opportunity to advise and teach numerous undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral level research assistants, laboratory personnel and students. Without a doubt, [Student Name] is one of the most intelligent and hardworking undergraduate students with whom I have ever had the pleasure to interact. My [Course Name] is an advanced elective, and the students who generally register are those that seek knowledge beyond our program’s required curriculum. This spring, we had a small class size, which included both doctoral and undergraduate students. The first half-hour of each class was dedicated to discussion of assigned readings, which are intentionally chosen to be challenging and push the students out of their comfort zone. With the small class size, each student had a greater responsibility to be fully involved in every discussion. [Student Name] came to each class prepared with questions, and participated heavily in every discussion. She consistently demonstrated an ability to tackle challenging questions presented to the class, and an ability to think on her feet as she worked through a given problem while in front of her peers. Writing is also a main component of the course, and [Student Name] already writes at a graduate level. Her writing is extremely well thought-out and she challenges herself by taking on topics that broaden her understanding of ideas and concepts. In the end, [Student Name] outperformed several graduate students in my class.

Outside of class, [Student Name] was incredibly active through her work both in healthcare and her extracurricular activities. She participated in clinical experiences in various roles here in the [University Name] Healthcare system and outside, gaining invaluable experience that will prepare [Student Name] for her long-term professional goals in physical therapy. In addition, she has maximized her time in a variety of extracurricular activities, including [Details Here]. She did all of this while also maintaining a high GPA, and graduating with Highest Distinction from our program.

It is for all of these reasons that I give [Student Name] my highest recommendation for continuing her education in a physical therapy program. The best recommendation I can give for an undergraduate student is that I would want to accept them into a doctoral position to work with my own laboratory, and [Student Name] is exactly the type of student that I look for on my own team. Her curiosity and personality will make her a joy to work with, and she has demonstrated graduate-level capabilities in her writing, presentation and high-level conceptual understanding related to my course content. I believe [Student Name] to be an exceptional candidate for your physical therapy program and I predict that she will have an extremely bright future.

The student’s name is [Student Name].

• The structure of the [Course Name] and its inclusion of both undergraduate and PhD students could highlight my eagerness to learn and face challenges.
• My capacity to express ideas clearly and demonstrate knowledge. A potential discussion topic could be my term paper/presentation where I examined the initiation of gait and the related issues in Parkinson’s disease from the perspective of coordination dynamics. This could be linked to my interest in physical therapy and clinical intervention.
• A more general personal characteristic is my authentic ability to collaborate with others, demonstrating confidence, reliability, and respect. This could include my receptiveness to constructive feedback.”

Sample resume:

EDUCATION

[UNIVERSITY NAME] City, State

Bachelor of Science, Biology, Health and Wellness, Minor in Nutrition May ####

High Distinction, Dean’s List, GPA: 3.92

Honors: Dean’s List

Activities: Member, [Fraternity Name]; Student Leader and Volunteer, [Student Center Name]; Member, Pre-Med Club; Mentor, Biology Department.

WORK EXPERIENCE [PHYSICAL THERAPY CLINIC NAME]

Physical Therapy Assistant

• Assisted Physical Therapists in guiding patients through exercises
• Managed clinic inventory and equipment and handled necessary administrative tasks

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE [FRATERNITY NAME]

Member

City, State July 2023 – Present

City, State January 2021 – May 2023

• Participated in charity work for Environmental Conservation, including local initiatives in City with ‘Green City Project’ and the ‘Nature Center’.

[STUDENT CENTER NAME] City, State Event Coordinator, Sunday School Teacher, Retreat Worker August 2019 – May 2023

• Organized and led weekly gatherings for college students.
• Developed lesson plans and taught 3rd – 5th graders at a Catholic school.
• Assisted in planning a weekend retreat and ensured its successful execution.

PEER MENTORING City, State Biology 101 Peer Mentor January – May 2022

• Attended the biology lecture for students to ask questions before, during, and after class.
• Assisted a graduate teaching assistant in leading a problem-solving class related to biology.

[LOCAL SPORTS CLUB] City, State Coach March – May 2022

• Coached coed 5-year-old youth basketball, teaching the basics of basketball and teamwork. PHYSICAL THERAPY OBSERVATION EXPERIENCE

[Rehab Center Name], City, State (80 hours) June – July 2022

• Observed outpatient evaluations and treatment plans, including occupational therapy.
• Helped in setting up and cleaning treatment stations.

[Local Hospital Name], City, State (25 hours) August 2022

• Observed acute physical therapy treatment in a hospital environment.
• Shadowed the process of taking notes during evaluations, reevaluations, goal setting, and treatment sessions.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Certification: Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED, American Red Cross”

In this case you are stating who you are and what your duties are. This is allows the generative AI to assume a persona – along with a appropriate schemata – to generate the response. You can try for instance to insinuate that you are a high school teacher, or that the recommendation is for a different type of program to see how responses vary.

You
Assume the role of a faculty member at a higher education institution in the [Department Name]. Your responsibilities include teaching a course titled [Course Name], which is attended by both senior undergraduate students and graduate students. One of the undergraduate students has requested that you write a general letter of recommendation for her application to a physical therapy program.

The student has provided her resume and some key points she would like you to paraphrase and incorporate into the letter.

I will begin by providing those points from the student. Hold those for now and don’t reply until I give you the next pieces.

The key thing provided here is a template – the sample recommendation letter. Templates have a lot of utility, and are able to either create text to match a given specification, or transform text from one format to another – for instance taking narrative text and aligning it to a form.

You
I will give you her resume next, followed by a sample recommendation letter written for another student that you can use as a guide. After and only after I have given both I would like you to craft the general letter of recommendation for her application to a physical therapy program.