First of all, choose at least one professor from your major field. An enthusiastic endorsement from such a professor will be taken as a sign that your choice of academic specialty was more than random. Second-and we hope that this goes without saying-your recommenders should probably be professors who do not immediately associate your name with the letter "C."

Most important, if it is at all possible, ask for recommendation letters from professors who already know you by name. Professors are quite talented at writing recommendations for students they barely know. Most consider it part of their job to do this. Even seemingly unapproachable academic titans will usually be happy to dash off a quick letter for a mere student.

It is also true, however, that these same obliging professors are masters of a sort of opaque prose style that screams to an admissions officer, "I really have no idea what to say about this kid who is, in fact, a near-total stranger to me!" Although an admissions committee will not dismiss out of hand such a recommendation, they will be unlikely to consider it very seriously.

One thing in particular interests the people who will evaluate your recommendations: specifics. If a professor can make specific reference to a particular project you completed, or at least make substantive reference to your work in a particular course, the recommendation will be strengthened considerably. You should consider it your responsibility to enable your professors to do this for you. You might, for example, make available a paper you wrote for them of which you are particularly proud. Unless your professors are well-enough acquainted with you to be able to offer a very personal assessment of your potential, they will greatly appreciate a tangible reminder of your abilities on which to base their recommendation.