John Nash’s graduate school recommendation letter

[jon-nyc]

Pithy, to the point.

[brenda]

Never seen this before. All letters of recommendation should be this clear and concise.

[Mik]

If you can honestly use the word genius in relation to the candidate, what else is needed?

[Klaus]

Yeah, I've seen that recommendation letter a couple of times. But I think it is an awful letter.

That letter may work somewhat if the letter writer is one of the most recognized figures in the field. But if I or any other run-of-the-mill prof would write a letter like that, it would instantly kill an application, or at least not help.

All this letter does is saying "This guy doesn't need a recommendation letter".

[Mik]

Elitist.

[Doctor Phibes]

"Genius" probably works better than "Klaus is better at mathematics than he is at the piano".

[Copper]

They didn't have text editors.

That was typed on a typewriter.

[Loki]

Unrelated to this thread between introverts, a typed letter used to mean that you did not really know or care about a person. A real letter of introduction or recommendation was always handwritten. Maybe that’s not so well known.

[Aqua Letifer]

@Loki said in John Nash’s graduate school recommendation letter:

Unrelated to this thread between introverts, a typed letter used to mean that you did not really know or care about a person. A real letter of introduction or recommendation was always handwritten. Maybe that’s not so well known.

Still true today. It's about the level of effort.