letters of recommendation ✉️

Hi there! If you’ve asked me or are thinking of asking me for a letter of recommendation (LOR), please read this page in its entirety.

Helping students succeed and take advantage of opportunities (internship, grad school, etc.) is one of my greatest joys. However, writing a quality LOR takes a lot of time and effort, so I strive to only write letters that will be strong, specific, and meaningful to your application.

who I write letters for

If you are a PhD student who needs a letter from me, skip this page and just ask me directly.
If you served on my course staff as a TA or PLA, or worked directly with me on a research project, I would be more than happy to write you a letter!
If you took one of my classes and did well (≥A-), I will consider writing a letter if you can demonstrate aspects where you went above and beyond in some way (e.g., in your final project), and are confident that there’s not another better person for you to ask.

If you’re not sure whether you fit the above descriptions, I encourage you to email me (lai@ucsd.edu) about what you are applying for, and we can talk it through from there.

how to request a letter

If you meet the criteria above, give me a heads up via email as soon as you’ve decided you want a letter from me, and let me know your first deadline. The sooner you tell me, the better!
Then, start working on the Recommendation Letter Request. The form will ask you questions about our working relationship and about qualities you’d like me to highlight in your letter. The more detail you give me in your answers, the stronger the letter I can write. If you’d like to draft your answers first before submitting, you can use this Google Doc which contains all the questions.
- Once you have submitted the form, I can start writing your letter. Please submit this form at least 2 weeks before your first deadline.
- If you are applying for an opportunity that requires a requires something other than a traditional letter (e.g., a portal that asks me to answer a few questions about you), please email me with the details. You DO NOT need to fill out this form.
Please send me a reminder one week before each application is due! I’m usually good at keeping track of things, but we all make mistakes sometimes :-) You are never bothering me by sending me more reminders.

tips and reminders

If you need to provide my information, you can use the following:

Lucy Lai
Assistant Teaching Professor
Department of Cognitive Science
University of California San Diego
(936)-978-0836
lai@ucsd.edu

Cognitive Science Building 244
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093
Make sure to waive your right to view recommendation letters submitted on your behalf. This will allow me (and your other writers) to speak more honestly. If I’ve agreed to write you a letter, it will likely be strong, so there’s nothing to be worried about!
Finally, please keep in touch and let me know how things go! I love celebrating my students’ successes, and I also want to know if things don’t turn out the way you hoped. Good luck!