How recent do letters of recommendation have to be?

[xInspiredx]

1. How recent do the letters of recommendation have to be? I will be graduating from college soon, and will be moving back home (which is quite far away). I want to ask for letters of recommendations now, but I am not planning to apply to accelerated nursing programs until a couple of years from now.

2. Also, is there a special form to write the letters of recommendation? Or could it just be in a letter form? I know sometimes they want the letters to be sealed in an envelope, and schools may have their own form.

Thank you!

[Student4_life]

I was in the process of applying to two schools (decided to only go for one) and they both required recent letters of rec. I am not sure a couple of years would qualify as recent, but then again there is no way of knowing what your future school desires so there is no harm in asking the professors that knew you well for a standard letter of recommendation, just be sure to give them all the info you can to bolster the letter (GPA, test scores, resume, etc) and have them make and seal 2 copies.

[xInspiredx]

^Thanks for your reply!

Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Would I be able to ask for a simple letter of recommendation without writing the schools' name? I checked their websites, and they don't seem to have their own letter of recommendation form.

When I would apply to Accelerated BSN schools, my letters would be at most 2 years old.

[caliotter3]

One of my instructors offered to give me updated letters if I asked for them. This person actually was the best reference I ever had.

[GoldenDomer63]

I wouldn't use a letter of recommendation if it was more than one-year old; especially an academic reference.

Most nursing schools use their own form instructing the professor to evaluate you on a scale of 1-10 on a variety of criteria; the professor then completes the form and returns it to the school in a sealed envelope.

Good luck!