LOR Samples: MS Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

LOR Samples: MS Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

An engineering recommendation letter for an MS in mechanical or electrical engineering should describe something the student built or tested, what failed, and what they changed. Georgia Tech ECE asks for three letters, with at least two from faculty. Berkeley's mechanical engineering MEng asks for two and says it may verify their authenticity.

A template engineering letter is a paragraph of adjectives (hardworking, sincere, dedicated) and a list of software the student knows. Engineering departments already have the transcript and the CV. What they cannot see is how the student behaves when a test rig, a circuit or a simulation gives the wrong answer. This page shows what four engineering departments ask of recommenders, then gives two constructed letters, one mechanical and one electrical. If you are the recommender and the draft is ready, choose the graduate school recommendation letter rubric for a free Quick Review.

Every department page quoted below was checked on October 31, 2026. Georgia Tech ECE and UT Austin ME state deadlines without a year, and rules change between cycles, so recheck the page before you upload. Michigan ECE, Minnesota ME, Wisconsin ME and Columbia EE blocked our automated fetch that day and are not quoted.

On this page: what departments ask · the failed-test paragraph · mechanical sample · electrical sample · TA and funding · checklist · questions

What engineering departments ask recommenders

What these pages mean for the person writing:

• At Georgia Tech ECE, your letter carries more weight than it used to. The page says "GRE scores are no longer required" and that the undergraduate record and letters "will be given greater consideration". It also says late letters "will still be considered as long as a final decision has not yet been made", but it prefers them by the deadline. The Atlanta Fall deadline for ECE PhD and MS programs (except MS Robotics) is listed as December 16, 11:59 p.m. Eastern; the table states no year.
• Berkeley ME tells you what a good letter does. "The best letters gauge your ability and potential for research and graduate study as well as your leadership capability, often citing examples from the recommenders own experiences with you." Examples from your own experience with the student are the point. The page also says "we may verify the authenticity of the letters submitted for you", and that letters are due by the "1/06/2027 deadline".
• UT Austin wants a university address. "Please use the university domain address for each professor you are requesting a reference." If you use a personal email at your institution, fix that before the applicant enters your details. The page says all materials are due by December 1 (no year stated).
• Berkeley EECS's list is the closest thing to a brief. Goals, research accomplishments, technical and leadership skills, academic work. Its December 1, 2026 deadline is for the research-track M.S./Ph.D. programs. The page calls the M.S.-only program "a very small research program for exceptional applicants with research experience".

No page publishes how a letter is scored or weighted against grades. Treat any claim about that as a guess.

The failed test is the paragraph that counts

Our view: the most useful paragraph in an engineering letter describes a test, build or analysis that did not work the first time, what the student found, and what they changed. In mechanical work that is a part that cracked, a model that disagreed with a measurement, or a tolerance stack that did not close. In electrical work it is a board that would not boot, noise on a sensor line, or a timing failure.

The basis: Berkeley ME asks letters to gauge "ability and potential for research and graduate study" with "examples from the recommenders own experiences". Berkeley EECS lists "technical and leadership skills". A failed test that the student diagnosed shows technical skill and research potential in one incident. Hardworking shows neither, and it costs a writer nothing to say.

The countercase: if you only taught the student in a theory course, you may never have seen them at a bench. Then write what you did see: a design question on an exam, a project report, a question they asked that showed they understood the physics. Do not invent a lab story. And for an industry supervisor writing for a professional master's, the failure can be a field problem or a customer complaint rather than a lab test. Georgia Tech says industry supervisors are "also appropriate".

Published: the asks in the table. Our recommendation: the failed-test paragraph. Unknown: how any committee weighs it.

Sample LOR for MS in Mechanical Engineering (constructed)

Constructed example: faculty adviser to a student vehicle team

Constructed example, written by us, not a real recommendation letter. Context (invented): Dr. K. Nair is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and faculty adviser to the college's student off-road vehicle team. Arjun Mehta led the team's suspension subgroup in his third year and is applying to US MS programs in mechanical engineering.

I am Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at [University] and have been faculty adviser to our student off-road vehicle team since 2019. I taught Arjun Mehta in Machine Design (2024) and advised him for two seasons on the team, where he led the four-student suspension subgroup in 2025.

In the 2025 season, a lower control arm cracked at a weld during the team's first full-load test. Arjun did not simply ask for a thicker tube. He measured the crack location, rebuilt the finite element model with the actual weld geometry instead of an idealised joint, and found that the model had underpredicted stress at that joint by roughly half. He redesigned the joint with a gusset, had the welds inspected, and wrote a two-page test note that the team now uses as its template. The arm survived the full test programme.

In Machine Design he placed third of 112 students. More useful to you is that he is the student I send younger team members to when their simulation and their test disagree.

His weakness is written communication. His reports are correct but dense, and he is working on it. I recommend him strongly for your MS program.

Dr. K. Nair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, [University]

That letter is 206 words. What it does:

1. Vantage first: one course, two seasons, one role, with dates.
2. The incident is a failure with a cause. Crack, measurement, model correction, redesign, inspection, documentation.
3. The comparison names its group: third of 112 students in one course.
4. It shows the student teaching others, which Berkeley's "leadership capability" covers.

Sample LOR for MS in Electrical Engineering (constructed)

Constructed example: embedded systems project supervisor

Constructed example, written by us, not a real recommendation letter. Context (invented): Dr. P. Sharma supervised Meera Iyer's final-year embedded systems project. Meera is applying to US MS programs in electrical and computer engineering, and to funded positions where they exist.

I am Assistant Professor of Electronics and Communication Engineering at [University]. I taught Meera Iyer in Microcontroller Systems (2024) and supervised her final-year project, a motor controller for a small solar water pump, from August 2025 to April 2026.

Her first board reset itself whenever the motor started. Meera traced the resets to a supply dip during motor inrush, confirmed it on the oscilloscope, and then found a second, quieter problem: the current-sense reading was noisy enough to trip the overcurrent limit at full load. She separated the analog and power grounds on the next board revision, added a filter on the sense line, and rewrote the firmware to ignore the first two milliseconds of inrush. The second board ran for a 40-hour bench test without a reset. She kept a lab notebook I could follow without asking her a question.

She also ran the lab sessions for 30 second-year students in Microcontroller Systems in 2025 as an undergraduate assistant. Students asked for her by name. If your department appoints teaching assistants, she is ready.

She has less experience with analog design theory than with firmware, and she knows it. I recommend her without reservation.

Dr. P. Sharma, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, [University]

That letter is 205 words. The two-problem paragraph shows diagnosis in order: the obvious fault, then the subtle one. The teaching paragraph is there for a reason covered in the next section.

The names, numbers and projects in both letters are invented. Use your own.

Letters that support a TA or funding case

Purdue ECE is explicit: teaching assistants "must show outstanding evidence of scholarship by both scholastic record and their letters of recommendation." Its page adds that "only those with good oral and written English communication skills are acceptable for ECE TA positions", and that fellowship selection "is based in part on academic record, recommendations, and statement of purpose." It also says "The majority of our funding is offered to students who apply for a Fall start by the December 1 priority date."

Two cautions from the same page. Purdue says "most master's students will be admitted to our professional master's program (PMP)", and that MSSWE students "are not eligible for teaching/research/graduate assistantships or fellowships that provide tuition remission". The page does not say whether MSECE professional-master's admits are considered for TA posts. Georgia Tech ECE says assistantships and fellowships "are generally offered only to students applying to the Ph.D. program."

Our recommendation: if you saw the student teach, tutor or run lab sessions, give it one paragraph with numbers (how many students, which course, how long), and say whether you would trust them in front of a class. That costs the letter nothing for a program without TA posts, and it is the evidence Purdue names for programs that have them. Do not write it if you did not see it.

Before you upload an engineering letter

1. The first paragraph states your role, the courses or projects, and the dates.
2. One paragraph describes a test, build or analysis that failed and what the student changed.
3. Every "top" or "best" names its group and its year.
4. Software and tools appear only inside an incident, never as a list.
5. If you saw the student teach, one paragraph says so with numbers.
6. You use your university email if the department asks for it (UT Austin does).
7. The letter ends with a plain endorsement.

Questions about engineering recommendation letters

How many letters does an MS in mechanical or electrical engineering need?

It varies by department. Of the departments checked here, Georgia Tech ECE and UT Austin ME ask for three, and Berkeley's ME MEng asks for two and says more "is not recommended". Check each department's page.

Can an industry supervisor write one of the letters?

Yes, where the department says so. Georgia Tech ECE says "Supervisors from experience in industry are also appropriate", with at least two letters from faculty. The employer letters of recommendation guide covers who at a company should write.

Can the student draft the letter for me to sign?

Berkeley ME says it "may verify the authenticity of the letters submitted". GradPilot's letter reviews aren't for a letter you drafted for a recommender to submit as their own. If you are the recommender, write it yourself and use the student's CV and statement for dates and facts.

Should the letter be different for a PhD application?

Georgia Tech ECE says that "for Ph.D. applicants there is a greater emphasis on a broader set of criteria, such as your personal statement, letters of recommendation, and prior research/work experience." A PhD letter needs more on research independence. The LOR format and sample for MS and PhD recommenders covers the general layout for both.

Get a free review of the letter

Get a free Quick Review of your recommendation letter against GradPilot's graduate school recommendation letter rubric. It reads how you know the candidate, incidents instead of adjectives, comparisons that name their group, the case for graduate potential, and the strength of your endorsement. Paste the letter and name the department you are writing for.

The applicant's own statement is covered in the SOP guide for MS in mechanical engineering and the SOP guide for MS in electrical engineering. For a data-heavy applicant, the LOR sample for MS in Data Science covers that letter. The graduate school essays hub lists the rest.

Sources

Retrieved October 31, 2026, except where noted.

• Georgia Institute of Technology, Graduate Admissions, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (deadline table states no year): three letters, faculty and industry recommenders, greater weight on letters, late letters, PhD emphasis, funding for PhD applicants.
• Purdue University, ECE Admissions Guide (page last modified January 29, 2026): TA and fellowship selection, English requirement for TAs, the professional master's program, December 1 priority date.
• University of California, Berkeley, MEng Application, Mechanical Engineering (letters due January 6, 2027): two letters, what the best letters do, authenticity verification.
• University of Texas at Austin, Admissions, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering (no year stated): three letters, university email for professors, December 1 materials deadline.
• University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Research Program Admissions, EECS (Fall 2027): three letters, professors preferred, what letters could include, December 1, 2026 deadline.