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Letters of recommendation

R

Rezag3000

Member
I need to get letters of recommendation from some of my college professors for medical school applications, but I am at a loss regarding how to ask.

School is over right now, but I live close to campus, so I have several options regarding how to ask.

Should I:

1. Ask for rec letters via email and mention that I am in town in case the professor wants to meet in person?

2. Ask to meet in person and then ask for a rec letter (if this option, under what pretense should I ask for a meeting)?


Thanks for the advice
 
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Ask in person. Have a prepared list of accomplishments, activities, etc. that you've done in college. Personally, as the writer of letters of recommendation, I believe I deserve kick-backs. A homemade chocolate chip cookie if my letter helps you get into whichever school; 2 cookies if you get a scholarship I recommended you for. 🙂
 
I've done both. It depends on how well you know the professor. If its a large lecture, definitely go ask in person. If the prof knows you pretty well from a small class, email is fine. Always offer to discuss it in person. Some profs like CVs so have that ready
 
It's part of the Profs job to write letters of recs. What kind of letter depends on how often you buttered up to your Profs. They have generic templates where they would fill in blank fields.

If you know them well, there's 3 things you need to give them:

1) A quick bio, which on of their classes you've taken and how well you did.
2) Your personal statement.
3) Resume

Also, if you aren't going thru a central application site, but mailing the letters directly to the schools (which is rare now) make sure you have a priority mail envelope for them ready along with the Matching Form.
 
DrPizza said:
Ask in person. Have a prepared list of accomplishments, activities, etc. that you've done in college. Personally, as the writer of letters of recommendation, I believe I deserve kick-backs. A homemade chocolate chip cookie if my letter helps you get into whichever school; 2 cookies if you get a scholarship I recommended you for. 🙂
Click to expand...

This, I usually give a gift card to starbucks/peets saying how much I appreciate the time they take out to write these. If you know them well, you can get something more personal. I got my graduate adviser a high res book of birds since it's her hobby. In case you don't get into school your first time, this leaves an impression if you need to ask them again.
 
Most professors are pretty good about writing letters for students they think are good. If they think you're a waste of space they may not be as excited to write one for you. 😉

As people have mentioned, unless you've worked closely with this professor you should provide them with something that says who you are, what you've done and what you want to do. When I was applying for grad school I found it was also helpful when I met with them to tell them why I wanted them specifically to write the letter. Like how I felt I learned quite a bit in their class, or that it would help me in what I was going to do in grad school.
 
I'm sorry but, I got stuck at the part where you woke up one morning and suddenly decided to apply to medical school. I guess planning ahead shouldn't be listed among your accomplishments.
 
I was a coward and also didn't have any relationships with professors. I sent out about 10 emails to professors who kind of knew me. I lucked out and got three responses. I can't imagine they were the best recommendations, but I got into the grad program I wanted...
 
Leros said:
I was a coward and also didn't have any relationships with professors. I sent out about 10 emails to professors who kind of knew me. I lucked out and got three responses. I can't imagine they were the best recommendations, but I got into the grad program I wanted...
Click to expand...

No one likes spammers.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
I'm sorry but, I got stuck at the part where you woke up one morning and suddenly decided to apply to medical school. I guess planning ahead shouldn't be listed among your accomplishments.
Click to expand...

This isn't what happened, and nothing I've said hints at that.


I think I will send my professors an email asking if they would write me a letter of recommendation, and I'll also add that I'd be more than happy to meet with them in person and offer any documents that they would like.

sound like a plan?
 
Gibsons said:
Ask in person. You can ask by email only if they already know and recognize you by name.
Click to expand...

Well, they can recognize me by name.

I'd like to ask in person, but I'd still have to ask for a meeting via email, and I don't know under what pretense I should ask for a meeting. I figure that I should clearly state my purpose in my email rather than beating around the bush, but I am open to suggestions.....
 
Leros said:
I was a coward and also didn't have any relationships with professors. I sent out about 10 emails to professors who kind of knew me. I lucked out and got three responses. I can't imagine they were the best recommendations, but I got into the grad program I wanted...
Click to expand...

What was your average grade in the classes you sent emails to? I fear to be in that same position in the future. 🙁
 
*shudders*

I had to do that last year, and managed to get one professor I kinda knew from my design studio (class of 10-ish). The other one was just someone I had 3 classes in, had a B-, A+ and an A in his classes.

It really depends on what you're using the letter for though. For my master's, it was just for going through the motions. For a medical school, my guess is that they want someone to kiss ass, and write how a great humanitarian you are, etc., etc.
 
Leros said:
90+

I was in the top 25% of most of my engineering classes. I'm sure that helped somewhat.
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I got the idea that the professors take note, though I don't know if that had to do with my class sizes. I went to a college with a total student population of about 3000, if I'm remembering right. Besides that, the class sizes were perhaps 30-40 students, which got smaller as the semesters went by.
In any case, they'd take note of promising performance, even with the quiet ones. I don't remember how I had gotten acquainted with a few of my professors there, if it was just asking about coursework, or what the circumstances were. They did definitely know my name, and that I was doing acceptably well in the program.

I would think that consistent 90+ grades in an engineering program would definitely attract some level of attention - or else you were enrolled in a Fisher Price My First Engineering Degree program. 😛.
 
For med school, you dont want a professor whose class you did well in to say you did well in a class. You want a letter from someone to say you will be a good doctor, letters can be from physicians youve worked with, people youve done research/volunteer work for, etc..
 
Jeff7 said:
I got the idea that the professors take note, though I don't know if that had to do with my class sizes. I went to a college with a total student population of about 3000, if I'm remembering right. Besides that, the class sizes were perhaps 30-40 students, which got smaller as the semesters went by.
In any case, they'd take note of promising performance, even with the quiet ones. I don't remember how I had gotten acquainted with a few of my professors there, if it was just asking about coursework, or what the circumstances were. They did definitely know my name, and that I was doing acceptably well in the program.

I would think that consistent 90+ grades in an engineering program would definitely attract some level of attention - or else you were enrolled in a Fisher Price My First Engineering Degree program. 😛.
Click to expand...

I come from a large program. My senior year, I still had classes with 30-50 students in them. But yeah, people (professors and students) knew my name. Not really sure how since I'm a pretty quiet dude and only made friends with a small handful of fellow students.
 
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