LORs & Interfolio

[GreyF0X]

I've been out of school for about 2-3 years. I was wondering how some of you guys asked your professors for LORs after it had been awhile? Do you just send them an email about writing a LOR or try to meet them in person?

I do believe some of my professors remember me, at least i hope so, wanted to know everyones experience getting a LOR as a non-trad student being out of school for a few years.

Second question I had was about interfolio. I know some professors aren't as tech savvy as others and probably wouldn't know how to scan and upload letter as a PDF. Does Interfolio give you directions on how to use their service? I would like to guide my professors just in case they need help with the upload process and to make sure that my letters get in on time.

Thanks in advance!

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[Averagemanboy]

I want to know as well.

 

[libahli]

For the letters from people I hadn't been in touch with (i.e. professor from my original major, volunteer coordinator), I sent them an initial email asking if they'd be willing to write a letter on my behalf and if so, if we could meet. When I met with each of them, I gave them a folder that, if I'm remembering correctly, I had included a personal letter from me to them laying out everything, a resume, a transcript, and an Interfolio cover page. For writers who I had been in contact with relatively recently (i.e. Professor who I took a class with last semester who I asked about a letter in person), I just sent her an email directly with everything.

I found that all of my letter writers were super pleased to help me out and all of them delivered on their promises - did not have anyone back out. I'm looking forward to updating them all next year once I (hopefully) get accepted.

In terms of Interfolio, I can't recommend it highly enough. It is the best and the people who work there are so helpful - they were even willing to send some of my letter writers their old letters back so that they could update them and resend - all at no charge to me.

The great thing about Interfolio is that it's super user-friendly, even for non tech savvy people. There are always two options that you can choose from - your writer can either upload their letter directly to the site OR, you can print out a cover page that gives them instructions exactly how to mail their letters in via snail mail. All of my letter-writers were easily able to submit their letters and many of them had never heard of Interfolio before.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

When you contact your professors, I used an email like this:

Dear Prof X,

My name is Cyril Figgis. I was a student in your spring 2013 Bio220 course. Next summer, I plan on applying to medical school and was wondering if you would be willing to write a letter of recommendation on my behalf. I have attached a copy of my CV and have ready a copy of my personal statement and transcripts should you also find those beneficial. I am happy to meet with you in-person to discuss this further and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for your time.
Cyril
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As for Interfolio, the comment above addressed this. Just be sure to let them know that Interfolio will send reminders if you gave them a deadline to submit. Some get aggravated by this.