#Lines for writing full
As faculty who sit on review boards will confirm, letters of three pages or more are simply too lengthy (and often too full of irrelevant detail) for a selection committee to consider efficiently pare them back. When students apply for graduate school or a national scholarship, two-page letters are the norm, and very short letters leave candidates at a clear disadvantage.
![lines for writing lines for writing](https://www.tuvie.com/wp-content/uploads/laser-cap-projector1.jpg)
In most circumstances, however, your letter should fill a page neatly and perhaps go on to a second page. For instance, if the student is seeking a military position that you have little knowledge of and your evaluation form included a detailed checklist, your letter might be just one or two paragraphs long, efficiently endorsing the student within the context of the whole application. To determine the appropriate length for a letter, balance your knowledge of the student with the weight and opportunity of what the student is applying for. In other words, a longer letter in the right circumstances gives favor to the candidate, as long as detail in the letter is relevant. Another study noted that “the more detail in the letter, the more persuasive” (2). In one study that assessed over 500 letters of recommendation, results indicated that “the strength of the cooperative relationship between recommenders and applicants influenced the favorability and length of the letters” (1). The standards are well-established, as discussed below. Although most faculty can readily make their letters look good at a glance thanks to computer software and templates, many still puzzle through the fundamentals of appropriate length and overall form.