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How can I submit the best possible recommendation letters to colleges like UC Berkeley?
I have just received an email from UC Berkeley asking me for some recommendation letters. I'm not quite sure who to ask for those. I asked my internship supervisor, and she'll write me one. For the second one, I had this tecaher i had a good relationship with, but she retired and just has a regular email, not the SFUSD email. Does it matter that I send this request for the letter even though she doesn't have a school email? Will college admission officers see this wierd?
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Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Jesus !
It is perfectly fine to ask your former teacher who is now retired for a letter of recommendation. She can do a couple of things and it does not matter what her e-mail address is. The content of the letter is the important thing.
She can type up a letter of recommendation on personal letter head and make a pdf of it and send it to you and you can then download it and e-mail it to Berkeley. She can also just type an e-mail to you and you can forward it to Berkeley.
You may feel better to know that UC Berkeley does not require letters of recommendation for its undergraduate admissions process, and they are not part of the standard University of California Application. Since this is the case, know that you are special since you have been invited to submit the letters. This means that the Berkeley committee is interested in getting to know more about you. They want two letters, with one required to be from an academic teacher or instructor and the second from someone who knows you well, such as a counselor, coach, or employer. The internship supervisor is good.
The letters have to be submitted electronically through UC Berkeley’s online recommendation system, specifically via the MAP@Berkeley portal, and cannot be sent through the UC Application Center or by mail. See what type of technical way you have to submit it, forwarding an e-mail or sending a pdf file or Word file ? Remember that the deadline to submit these letters is January 10, 2026.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best with your application to Berkeley !
It is perfectly fine to ask your former teacher who is now retired for a letter of recommendation. She can do a couple of things and it does not matter what her e-mail address is. The content of the letter is the important thing.
She can type up a letter of recommendation on personal letter head and make a pdf of it and send it to you and you can then download it and e-mail it to Berkeley. She can also just type an e-mail to you and you can forward it to Berkeley.
You may feel better to know that UC Berkeley does not require letters of recommendation for its undergraduate admissions process, and they are not part of the standard University of California Application. Since this is the case, know that you are special since you have been invited to submit the letters. This means that the Berkeley committee is interested in getting to know more about you. They want two letters, with one required to be from an academic teacher or instructor and the second from someone who knows you well, such as a counselor, coach, or employer. The internship supervisor is good.
The letters have to be submitted electronically through UC Berkeley’s online recommendation system, specifically via the MAP@Berkeley portal, and cannot be sent through the UC Application Center or by mail. See what type of technical way you have to submit it, forwarding an e-mail or sending a pdf file or Word file ? Remember that the deadline to submit these letters is January 10, 2026.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best with your application to Berkeley !