I am happy to serve as a reference for students I have taught. However, as my time is not unlimited, I do need to put some restrictions on the letters I am willing to write and send. This page is primarily about letters of reference for graduate school, although most of the same rules would apply for other reasons (such as scholarship applications).
When asking me for a letter of recommendation, I would prefer that all written communication come from your UCI email address. If you use an alternate email, please explain why you are doing so. Regardless, please send all communication from the same address.
- Am I a good reference for you? Keep in mind that most of the time when you're asking for a letter of recommendation, the recipient isn't only asking me a binary question of whether or not I recommend you. They are also asking why I give such a recommendation, and to support it. If all I can say about you is that you earned a good grade in one of my classes, especially if that course is lower division, that isn't going to be viewed by them as a strong positive reference. You are sending them a transcript -- they already know you earned a good grade in that class. If you stood out in other ways, such as by regularly helping with good answers on the course message board, please remind me of that.
- Where are you applying?
- For graduate school, please have a focused list of where you are asking me to send a reference letter. Each school you apply to takes time from each of your recommenders; please be respectful of that.
- You also hopefully have plans for graduate school and an assessment of both where you are likely to be accepted and where you are likely to attend if you are accepted. CSUN and Harvard are both wonderful universities, but a focused application list probably shouldn't include both.
- For most students, I am going to limit the number of letters I will send for graduate school to five. If you want me to send a letter on your behalf to more than five graduate school applications, you will need to discuss this with me before listing me.
- When are you applying? Please give me plenty of lead time. I would prefer that you request the letter no later than one month before the first letter is due if you are applying to graduate school in the upcoming Fall.
- Why do I ask for this? While writing any particular letter isn't a large time commitment, the total time is. In the 2021-22 school year, I wrote letters for 37 different students and sent them to over 200 schools (total, not each).
- Please have every application for which I will be sending a reference letter filled out at least two weeks prior to the first letter writer's deadline for these schools. Furthermore, any application not completed by mid-November will likely result in letters not being sent until late December. Please be aware of this if you are applying to a school with a December 15 deadline.
- You should send a list of (school, program, deadline) [with at most 5 entries]. That part must be emailed me to me at last two weeks prior to the deadlines described above. If you change your mind, you will need to send me an updated list. I cannot guarantee I will be able to meet the changes, especially if a school with a later deadline is replaced by one with an earlier deadline.
- When you ask for a reference, please remind me the details.
- Which class(es) did you take with me? Which quarter(s) were they? How well did you do?
- How else have we interacted?
- Where are you applying? Which programs within, and to which degree objectives? Are you applying for a Masters Degree or a Ph.D.?
- When is the first deadline for me to submit a letter?
- Having a written statement of purpose and a CV are also useful to me.
My information
When you apply somewhere that is going to ask you for a faculty reference, they will ask for my information. Please provide accurate information when doing so.
- My name: Michael Shindler.
- Please note the spelling.
- My email: Please use mikes at uci dot edu.
- I also have one at ics dot uci. Please do not use that one for letters of reference.
- I try (somewhat unsuccessfully) to use that one primarily for class related email with my at-uci email for all other professional purposes.
- Title: My job title is "Associate Professor of Teaching"
- Please use the full title and not "Associate Professor" or "Professor."
- Phone number and mailing address. I do not have a phone in my office, other than my personal cell phone. If an application asks for my phone (or fax) number, please use the department (not individual!) address, phone, and fax numbers listed on the Computer Science Department's Contact Us page.