Billur Barshan's Letter of Recommendation Policy

Letter of Recommendation Policy:

  • You must have taken at least one course for which I was the instructor, or have been engaged in a project/thesis under my supervision. You should have received at least a letter grade of B from the courses/projects to request a letter of reference. Graduate students working with me may be exempt from this requirement if I can otherwise evaluate their work.

  • Both in the case of online submission and letters requested in paper format, please fill out the reference letter forms of the University or Institution as much as possible, including my contact details given below. Please do this accurately, according to the contact information given below. For letters requested in paper format, please do not supply any envelopes.

  • You must submit all the documents listed below at least two weeks before you wish the letters to be prepared as e-mail attachments in pdf format. The following should be submitted:

    1. your most recently available transcript and a statement of your ranking in your class which can be obtained from the department secretary or Students Affairs (Ogrenci Isleri).

    2. your curriculum vitae or resume, or a biography serving the same purpose in essay form.

    3. a statement of purpose similar to those required by most institutions as a part of their application package. This can be combined with the essay biography into a single essay if desired.

    4. if available, results of any standardized tests such as GRE, TOEFL, LES, etc.

    5. a list of which universities, companies, etc. references should be prepared for, the relevant departments, and the deadlines.

  • If you decide not to send the letter (in paper format) I prepare for a particular institution or decide to send it to another institution, you must first inform me and return any unused letters.

  • Please ask for all your reference letters as a single batch, not a few at a time. This applies to letters in paper format.

  • If the institution is in Turkey, you need to indicate whether the letter should be written in English or Turkish.

  • If you are applying to departments other than electrical engineering, please indicate so.

    Billur Barshan, December 2022

    Name: Billur Barshan
    Title/Academic Rank: Professor
    Affiliation: Bilkent University
    Address: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
    Bilkent University, TR-06800 Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey
    Telephone: (90-312) 290-2161
    Fax : (90-312) 266-4192
    e-mail : billur [at] ee bilkent edu tr
    url : www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~billur