Ask for a LOR?

[PoorCAapplicant]

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Hi Everyone,

Longtime lurker, first time poster!

I'm applying this cycle and am starting to gather my LORs. I was conflicted about asking my museum supervisor for a LOR. I have worked for her for around ~150 hours over 2 years and have a good rapport with her (I think). However, once she trains me on a new task, she is free to do other things and I am pretty independent. Since she doesn't actually observe me during my shifts, should I ask her for a letter? I believe she would absolutely say yes if I asked her if she could write a strong LOR, but don't know if her letter would reflect that.

Also, I work for a student organization and have been there for about 2 years and have worked >300 hours. It was definitely a meaningful activity, but should I ask them for a letter too? There is a physician director for the program, but is super busy and would only just co-sign it without even meeting me.

I guess my whole post boils down to this: Do schools expect a LOR from experiences where you invested quite a bit of time into?

 

[akuko2]

From my experience I had 3 letters of recommendation from professors (2 science, one from a Spanish professor) and one letter of recommendation from the pastor of my church where I did a lot of my volunteering at. Even if your museum supervisor did not oversee everything he/she may be able to write a solid letter or they could ask you to ghostwrite it for them. I can't say definitively that a school expects a letter of rec from important activities to you, because you can basically see that through the amount of hours and your personal description of the importance of the activity and its impact on you via the AMCAS application. That being said I think a positive letter from an activity you truly invested in can only help you.

 

[gyngyn]

Send her these guidelines and ask her if she can write you a strong letter: https://www.aamc.org/download/349990/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf

 

[PoorCAapplicant]

Send her these guidelines and ask her if she can write you a strong letter: https://www.aamc.org/download/349990/data/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf

I still work with her and see her frequently. Should I print that out, give it to her, and ask if she can write a strong letter after giving her time to read it? Or should I email it to her and wait for her response the next time I see her? I feel like the latter part is less awkward, but from reading some threads, asking for a letter in person is best.

Thanks @akuko2

 

[tantacles]

I still work with her and see her frequently. Should I print that out, give it to her, and ask if she can write a strong letter after giving her time to read it? Or should I email it to her and wait for her response the next time I see her? I feel like the latter part is less awkward, but from reading some threads, asking for a letter in person is best.

Thanks @akuko2

Any way that you can think of to ask that is polite and inobtrusive is a good way. Much of this will probably depend on your supervisor. Does she prefer e-mail? Does she lose papers? Does she hate having requests made to her in person? Only you can answer these questions.

 

[EaglesontheWarpath]

A great letter of rec from someone you've spent a lot of time with is awesome-don't be afraid to ask. Show them the guideline and be specific when you ask if they can write you an awesome lor-if they can't/don't feel they can write you a great one, then say thanks but no thanks, and that you appreciate their time. If they can't write you one thats awesome and non-generic, then its better not asking for one. Personally, I think that the generic lor from a chem or bio professor who clearly didn't know the student but said yes to them anyway looks bad.

Personally, I hated asking for letters but usually I would email them asking if there was a time I could meet with them to talk about the possibility of them writing a recommendation for me. Easy way for the professor to say no if they don't want to, and also was a great way for me to have a conversation with a professor about my goals/dreams etc. and let them know who I am if they don't remember.