{Your address}{City, State, Zip}

{Date}

{Recipient}{Recipient's address}{City, State, Zip}

Dear ___________________,

It gives me great pleasure to recommend ________________ for admission to graduate school.

__________________ was my lab assistant for three semesters, and distinguished herself with her natural curiosity, attention to detail and near-encyclopedic knowledge of her field of study.

She excels in a classroom setting as well, earning a 3.7 grade point average while taking a full course load even as she worked 20 hours a week in the lab. In fact, several times I stopped by the lab after hours only to find that after her shift ended, she stayed on to work on her own independent research projects.

______________ is modest, but her talents are well known among faculty and students. Her peers routinely go to her for help with their projects, and she is always happy to help. She recently led the university's team to the International __________ Competition, where we placed second and __________________ herself took home an individual award.

_____________'s diligence, intellect and commitment to her studies are unmatched. Her greatest pleasure is to challenge herself. I include her in the top five percent of students I have had in my 25 years of teaching.

Please let me know if you can benefit from any further insights into _______________'s experience and character. I know she will excel at graduate school.

Sincerely,

{Name}