asking for LORs early?

[bluebird79]

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I don't plan to apply for another 2 years. I'm wondering if I should just go ahead and start gather LORs though before people start forgetting about their interactions with me.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to present this to say a prof from a few years ago?

Also, what sort of format should the LOR take? Is there a standard that most people would be familiar with?

Are there different formats for academic LORs and volunteer LORs?

 

[abw]

Hey!
It's never to early to start getting lor's. The best time is when you're finishing up a class with a prof - they can always write an updated one later if you take more classes. Plus, if someone leaves the school that you wanted a lor from, you're out of luck later. What you do is ask your pre-med advisor if she keeps a file of your lor's. If so, have all of them sent there to be kept safe. If not, your alumni office usually keeps lor's on file for future job apps, so they shouldn't object to pre-med letters.

For presenting it to profs / format, I would first find out if your pre-med advisor writes a composite letter. If she/he does, she/he will screen through your letters, and take the best quotes (meaning you have to worry a little less about what each prof says directly). If not, I would approach each person and ask them "could you write a STRONG letter of recommendation for me to go to medical school". Have a detailed resume ready (don't worry too much about it's format, just describe everything you do) and a short personal statement/motivation for medicine paragraph on hand to help them out. This 1. helps the prof from two years ago or the prof who didn't know anything about you except for his/her grade book and 2. helps you sort of guide what you want them to say. Group you resume according to traits you want embellished. (for eg. Are you community oriented? use a heading - 'community involvement' and list all your activities and even a blurb about what they mean to you.)

 

[Bonds756]

Abw gave good suggestions. I think it is always a good idea to use the word "strong." If this prof doesn't think they could do that, then hopefully they will tell you and spare you from them writting just a so so letter.
It never hurts to collect more than the required three. You can send more or have your advisor tell you which they think are the strongest three.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I just spoke to my pre-med advisor about this a few hours ago. She suggested that I start requesting letters now (I'm a 2nd semester sophomore). My school has a form letter that I can give to various profs/faculty and they send the letters to my pre-med advisor. She keeps a folder of all the letters and also draws from their comments to write a letter herself (esp. for pre-med students she doesn't know as well, though that's not a prob for me- I work in her lab). So, apparently, it's a good thing to request letters early. That way you don't have to scramble to get a bunch of letters at once, your profs are not rushed to finish your letter (and all the other premeds' letters at the same time), and your hard work in their class, lab, etc. is fresh in their minds.

 

[stillpremed]

yeah i agree with al the posts. get your letters of rec ASAP as soon as the class is over - it is really easy to forget students with so many students in the classes... also, like what others say, if the prof hesitates or can't give a strong one, it can only hurt your file

 

[wolferman]

I gave one of my LOR writers three years to write my letter. He still waited until the last moment to write it though.