Letters of Recommendation

[bevo83]

I'm looking for some advice on how to ask for letters of recommendation. The "catch" is that I graduated in May of last year and most of the professors that I knew fairly well I haven't seen in almost 2 to 3 years. How should I go about asking these professors for a letter of recommendation? Should I e-mail them first to explain my situation or should I just wait outside their office to catch them? Will it be a problem that there is a good chance they most likely won't remember me and how big of a problem will this be?

Additionally, should I request they write letters for specific schools I'm applying to or should I simply ask for a letter outlining my academic virtues with no specific school mentioned?

Lastly, should I use Interfolio when processing my recommendations or should I have them processed through OptomCAS?

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[fLuxe]

Don't worry about it too much—writing letters of recommendation is part of a professor's job. A professor I know well writes tons of them every year and she definitely doesn't know each student extremely well. I personally asked via email and it worked well for me, but your mileage may vary.

There's no need to mention a specific school. You can choose to tailor your personal statement to different schools instead, which I did for only my top choice school. I've never heard of Interfolio so I can't help there, but I didn't have a problem with Optomcas at all.

Hope that helps!

 

[kleronomia]

Just to add onto fLuxe's response, Interfolio is not accepted for OptomCAS. You list your letter writers' email addresses, and they will send specific instructions for how to submit their letter. If you have other questions about LORs, I found this website helpful. http://www.optomcas.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32&Itemid=25

 

[Tonometry]

you do not know how hard it was for me to find a L.O.R. from professors... I did no research nor did I particularly excel in any class. I did get a letter of recommendation from a English professor whose area of study was health. But no science professor letters. It was frustrating... I could've supply the application with atleast a dozen OD Letter of Recommendation before I could get one from science professors... When your applying, some school will look for a letter of recommendation from a science professor tho... So the best thing you can do is ask the professors and rely on the OD's L.O.R. (much easier to get it from them if you shadow them than professors), Good Luck!

**Certain school MIGHT waive this requirement for circumstances like yours - it has been done before

 

[bevo83]

What would be considered "excelling" in a class in terms of grades? I lead study groups and was known by my professors (though I never did any research) but most of my science course grades were A- and a few A's scattered here and there. Would an A- be a sufficient grade to ask for a letter of recommendation?

 

[tkuhug]

Yes I think A- is great If you can ask the professor who knew you, and have seen leadership skills through study groups that would be even better.

As for OP's question I think it is ok to ask even if you did graduate last year. Professors understand students go through career changes and are happy to write one for students applying to optom school. It would of course be in both your professor and your best interest to select a few that you feel you knew well. If you pop into a nice prof's office and they are not too busy, you may even have some time to chat about your career choice and how they've been etc.

 

[vabranch]

In regards to LORs I have a question. On OptomCas there are recommender types and each school has certain ones that are required and others that are accepted. Does anyone know if a school will take a mixture of required and accepted as long as you have the number of required letters?
At my college we interviewed with the pre-health professions committee. We had to get two LORs from science and two from general professors. The letter is composite but is made up of these. Under school policy we cannot just ask for a LOR to be sent to a school unless it was apart of the health professions committee letter.
For instance NOVA requires a science professor, general professor, and an optometrist. Would I be able to submit my committee letter which is accepted under the recommender type, an optometrist which is required, and an employer which is accepted? I emailed a couple of schools an only received a reply from one of them. I guess I could try calling and see if I can get a response. I figured I'd ask here though to see if anyone has been in a similar situation.
I hope this makes sense.

 

[sbopt87]

In regards to LORs I have a question. On OptomCas there are recommender types and each school has certain ones that are required and others that are accepted. Does anyone know if a school will take a mixture of required and accepted as long as you have the number of required letters?
At my college we interviewed with the pre-health professions committee. We had to get two LORs from science and two from general professors. The letter is composite but is made up of these. Under school policy we cannot just ask for a LOR to be sent to a school unless it was apart of the health professions committee letter.
For instance NOVA requires a science professor, general professor, and an optometrist. Would I be able to submit my committee letter which is accepted under the recommender type, an optometrist which is required, and an employer which is accepted? I emailed a couple of schools an only received a reply from one of them. I guess I could try calling and see if I can get a response. I figured I'd ask here though to see if anyone has been in a similar situation.
I hope this makes sense.

Try emailing, they respond quickly to all questions. And most will work with you on what you have so try emailing all the schools you are planning on applying to.

I had a similar situation and as long as you have one from an optometrist and another from another source you are fine.

 

[eafutureeyedoc]

you do not know how hard it was for me to find a L.O.R. from professors... I did no research nor did I particularly excel in any class. I did get a letter of recommendation from a English professor whose area of study was health. But no science professor letters. It was frustrating... I could've supply the application with atleast a dozen OD Letter of Recommendation before I could get one from science professors... When your applying, some school will look for a letter of recommendation from a science professor tho... So the best thing you can do is ask the professors and rely on the OD's L.O.R. (much easier to get it from them if you shadow them than professors), Good Luck!

**Certain school MIGHT waive this requirement for circumstances like yours - it has been done before

I am in the same situation, I don't know any of my science professors well enough to ask them to write me a letter...How were you able to submit your applications without a science prof? Did some schools let you substitute the science prof letter with another prof, OD, or employer? If so, which schools?

 

[cvalliere]

I'm also interested in this.

 

[NAUeyes]

I'm also interested in this.

I would definitely ask the professor in person, with an email they can't really put the name to the face. and as far as asking, just ask! Most are willing to do it and some will even ask for a "resume" of your achievements and high points and they will write the letter based on that! Don't make them school specific, it gets too complicated. Let me know if you need more info!

 

[SunA21]

some will even ask for a "resume" of your achievements and high points and they will write the letter based on that!

Do this! It helps them a lot and you're more likely to get a good letter out of it.

 

[cvalliere]

I just wish the few schools wouldn't put requirements on the LORs. Because I know I could have some amazing LORs if given the choice to pick 4 people that know me on a more personal level and look better to schools without requirements. I feel like I would be hurting myself in my admission to 5 schools, for the sake of 2 schools.