2yrs out of school, need science LOR's, advice?

[GiTsticker]

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I need science professor letters, but I have been out of school for two years. I still keep in touch with one of my TA's that I know could write a great letter (I wrote him one in the past), I've got one from my employer (I worked for 1 year as a hemodialysis technician), and I've got one from my dentist whom I've shadowed for ~40hrs. So, as most schools require 2 science prof. letters, I would be hard pressed to fill this requirement aside from contacting professors whom I KNOW would not remember me and have them write lame-o-letters for me. Is that my only option at this point in the game? Should I call schools individually and explain my situation? What do people do who haven't taken science courses in 2, 5, 10 years? Thanks in advance!

 

[Slacker24]

bump

 

[doc toothache]

So, as most schools require 2 science prof. letters, I would be hard pressed to fill this requirement aside from contacting professors whom I KNOW would not remember me and have them write lame-o-letters for me. Is that my only option at this point in the game? Should I call schools individually and explain my situation? What do people do who haven't taken science courses in 2, 5, 10 years? Thanks in advance!

And you want to ask the schools to give you special dispensation?

 

[GiTsticker]

I would ask the schools the same questions I am asking you and everyone else. Obviously letters from science professors become increasingly hard to acquire and less meaningful as time goes on. At some point, dispensation does become appropriate. Two years may not be enough, but the people I know now can better describe my diligence and competence than those I knew years ago who may or may not remember who I was/am. In short, dispensation? Yes.

 

[HockeyGrL04]

I was in a similar situation when I applied this past cycle. I'm not sure if any school will give you special consideration since its only been two years but there is no harm in calling to ask, especially if you think someone else could write you a better letter. That said, I asked two professors who I hadn't spoken with in 6 years and all of my interviewers made a comment about how great those letters were so chances are those professors you knew will still write a good letter of rec... they do it all the time. The letters are not nearly as important as your GPA, your DAT scores, what you've done to show your interest in the field, and arguably most important APPLYING ASAP. I made the mistake of applying in October and while I was lucky enough to get several interviews and acceptances, they all gave me flak about applying so late in the cycle.

 

[notin]

go talk in person to two teachers who you think are most likely to remember you. getting exempted isn't the way you want to go. your diligence and competence in the academic world really are important, and they need some reason to believe you're a good student even if its from a teacher who doesn't remember you very well. they'll still write an ok LOR which is all you're looking for.

 

[johnboi85]

Do what I did...I took another upper division science course from the same professor I asked for a LOR before I graduated (~2 years ago) during summer so that she could remember me.

 

[doc toothache]

I would ask the schools the same questions I am asking you and everyone else. Obviously letters from science professors become increasingly hard to acquire and less meaningful as time goes on. At some point, dispensation does become appropriate. Two years may not be enough, but the people I know now can better describe my diligence and competence than those I knew years ago who may or may not remember who I was/am. In short, dispensation? Yes.

Well now. You can always ask for dispensation and who knows your wish may or may not be granted. One would suspect, however, that if ds felt as you do about the conditional meaningfulness of the lors they might have provided alternatives for special cases such as yours.

 

[austinsanity]

I was out of school for 3 years before applying and getting accepted. To me, the answer to this question is simple. Be honest, explain your situation, and request outright from professors that you got along with in undergrad for letters. If you burnt all your bridges (which is a big mistake), the best thing I can think to do is to either take some more classes or establish a dialogue with professors at the institution you graduated from. I know someone that did this (they traveled and spoke with a med school faculty member) and it worked out for them. Above all, the best thing you can do is to be honest and lay it all out on the table. The worst that can happen is getting no reply or having the person tell you that they don't know you well enough. It doesn't feel good, but it's not the end of the world.