This is my public policy for writing “recommendation letters” for Bachelors students at Ecole Polytechnique. If you are an Engineering or M.Sc.T student at Ecole Polytechnique, then please look at this page instead.
Please also familiarise yourself with my general policy and process for recommendation letters.
This policy is strictly applied for recommendation letters, regardless of if you are applying to a Masters or other graduate studies in France or abroad, or if you need a recommendation letter for an internship, or for a scholarship.
The initial contact for letters of recommendation MUST follow the guidelines given here.
I will not, under any circumstances, write a letter of recommendation for a student, for whom either of the below applies:
- The student has never been in a class that I have taught (surprisingly, it is necessary to call this out explicitly!); OR
- The student has done a “rattrapage” (re-exam) in any class I’ve been teaching – except where medically excused, of course; OR
- The student has done more than one “rattrapage” (re-exam) while at Ecole Polytechnique – except where medically excused, of course; OR
- The student has obtained a grade different from A+ in any class that I have been teaching.
I am likely to write a letter of recommendation for a student, for whom all of the below apply:
- The student has obtained A+ in all the classes I have been teaching; AND
- The student has obtained no more than one single B in all Computer Science classes followed at Ecole Polytechnique; AND
- The student has obtained no grades below B through the totality of his or her studies at Ecole Polytechnique; AND
- The student has had a “career counseling” meeting with me, during which we have discussed both the targeted school, program, and motivation for following it.
For students who are not excluded by the “I will not, under any circumstances” criteria, but who do not satisfy all of the “I am likely to” criteria, I am exceptionally unlikely to write a letter of recommendation.
Either way, the initial contact for letters of recommendation MUST follow the guidelines given here.