Letters of Recommendation

Preliminary Credential Admissions Requirements - Letters of Recommendation

Identify at least 2 people to serve as references. References from academic and/or work-based contexts detailing your preparedness to work with school-aged students are preferred. Your reference should include their contact information (phone number and email address) in the letter.

In the recommendation section of your application, you will be prompted to provide the name and e-mail address of the references. The application system will e-mail your references and request that they submit a recommendation on your behalf.

It is the applicants' responsibility to follow up with each reference to be sure that the letters are submitted in a timely manner. Letters should be submitted by the application deadline, so please make your requests early to allow time for your recommenders to complete this for you.

Relationship of Recommender to You

Recommendation from family and friends will not be considered. Recommenders MUST state how they know you in their letter. The 2 letters should be written from people who know you in different capacities. (For example, do not submit 2 letters from coaches.) Recommended references include a professor, an employer, and/or classroom teacher where you have volunteered or worked.

Credential Recommendation Form

University professors and community college instructors may complete a Credential Recommendation Form in lieu of writing a letter. You would need to send them the link to access this form as it is NOT emailed through the application system.

• Credential Recommendation Form
• Credential Recommendation Form - Bilingual

Criteria to Be Considered

Below are criteria we will consider. Although we do not expect one letter to address them all, we hope that across your letters, most of these criteria will be addressed.

The letter should directly comment on the following:

• Your qualifications for a teaching career
• Your experience in multicultural settings
• Your educational experiences
• Your employment experiences
• Your experiences as a volunteer
• Your experience teaching or supervising students or other groups of individuals
• Your potential for success as a teacher

Recommendations in the Cal State Apply application:

Within the application you will "make a request" to one of your recommenders, by entering their name and email address. The system will email them and ask them to accept writing a letter and then ask them to upload that letter to your application. Please note there are 3 stages that these requests go through in the application system:

• Requested - the stage when you first make the request and the email is sent.
• Accepted - the stage when your recommender agrees to write the letter for you, but no letter is uploaded yet.
• Completed - when the letter has been uploaded to your application.

For us to be able to view your letter, your requests have to be in the "completed" category. If they only show as "accepted" no letter is present and you need to follow up with your recommender to have their letter completed.