Asking for LOR

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bionerd

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So get this...I went to my teacher's office hours for like a million times last year..she says I ask great questions...then when I ask her for LOR this year, she doesn't remember me! What's going on? She doesn't seem to be the forgetful type either...seems like a sharp lady. Anybody else had this happen to them?? If so, what'd you do? 😕
 
haha sounds like someone's too lazy to right one..
 
when you ask for a letter. ask if they can write you a GOOD letter? this sometimes makes people more honest and some will say no instead of bull$hitting a letter that will ultimately do nothing for you.
 
while that is a good rule of thumb, you need to size up the person your asking. they may take it personally thinking that you think they write "just descent letters" .
 
When I was doing good in a class where I wanted a letter I mentioned to my professor halfway through that I was thinking about asking him for a letter should my performance continue to be good. This would get them checking out my grades and saying hi around campus and stuff. Even if they don't remember your name a year later they will most likely remember your face. These were all 200+ student classes.
 
so glad i went to a private school where most classes were under 30. phew! i became friends with all my teachers. good luck
 
what about for the people who were able to pull off good grades without having to talk to the teacher or ask for extra help... it kinda sucks because all they know is that they got one of the high grades
 
Well, I started preppin' the profs for letters because I knew that I was going to need them. Contact with profs doesn't mean that you can't make the grade. You can talk to them about ideas that extend the material a little bit beyond the level discussed in class. I just straight out told them that I was interested in a letter and they mostly said, "alright coming to office hours will help".
 
i took biochem this semester and got an A and would really like to ask 1 of the 2 prof's for a LOR...problem is the class had about a 100 peeps in it...however one of them for sure knows who i am...we had a class forum on which i was quite active, so they def. know me from there, but haven't spent a lot of time talking with them in person, a few questions here and there, but thats it. What do u think about asking one of the prof's for a LOR?? 👍 👎 😕 i was thinking of just sending an email and seeing what happens, i guess it couldn't really hurt to try...
 
Don't ask for an LOR via email unless you're out of state or really have absolutely no way to contact them. Make it personal. Visit their office hours or arrange a meeting. Get a feel for how they respond to your request.
 
dexadental said:
Don't ask for an LOR via email unless you're out of state or really have absolutely no way to contact them. Make it personal. Visit their office hours or arrange a meeting. Get a feel for how they respond to your request.

yeah, good point. i guess what im really looking for here is some personal experience input from others regarding the level of their relationships with some of the prof's they got letters from. how well did they know them, was it a big class..ect.....Thanks
 
kokobean said:
haha sounds like someone's too lazy to right one..

Eh...she apparently remember these other girls from the same class (I know cuz I saw them in office hours too)...god, they were the suck-up types and now they benefit from it 😡 ...well, I guess that's life! 🙂 Maybe there ought to be a class called "Sucking Up to Teachers to Get a Letter of Recommendation 101"
 
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