Asking for Recommendation Letters

[speedyIs]

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I am not sure how I should approach professors for recommendation letters...
I asked a professor for one yesterday and got rejected!!! T.T
She said that she doesn't write letter of rec for big classes..... but then all my classes are biggg!!!
I am a graduating senior at Cal (UCB) so I only have this semester left!!!
I so far got ZERO recommendation letter...
I have few professors (from this semester and previous semesters) in my mind, but I am not sure how I should approach them...
I remember reading a post about this, but I can't seem to find it.
If you have link to the previous post, I would really appreciate it if you could post the link...
Also,,, if you are a student a Cal, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know any professor who is generous about recommendation letters...
Thanks!!!

 

[speedyIs]

o, btw are we supposed to get 2 from science and 1 from non-science?

 

[mchou]

I am not sure how I should approach professors for recommendation letters...
I asked a professor for one yesterday and got rejected!!! T.T
She said that she doesn't write letter of rec for big classes..... but then all my classes are biggg!!!
I am a graduating senior at Cal (UCB) so I only have this semester left!!!
I so far got ZERO recommendation letter...
I have few professors (from this semester and previous semesters) in my mind, but I am not sure how I should approach them...
I remember reading a post about this, but I can't seem to find it.
If you have link to the previous post, I would really appreciate it if you could post the link...
Also,,, if you are a student a Cal, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know any professor who is generous about recommendation letters...
Thanks!!!

I think that, (fellow Bruin here) it is hard to get a good letter of rec from a professor unless you go to Office Hours, talk with them one on one and then, when you're doing WELL in the class, ask for a letter of rec contingent upon getting a good grade in the class.

Also, AVOID generous recommendation letter givers, if everyone has a letter from them, it's less useful because a reviewer cannot use it to tell you apart from another applicant. If you work in research, you can ask for a letter from your mentor/professor there. If you do extensive volunteer work, ask for one from your supervisor. Yes, 2 science and 1 nonscience minimum. And, also, if you take an English class, GET TO KNOW YOUR PROFESSOR... they can really write! If you see what I'm saying...

PS: if you do not know your professor well, offer them an interview to let them get to know you. Some will take you up on it.

 

[ahumdinger]

I am not sure how I should approach professors for recommendation letters...
I asked a professor for one yesterday and got rejected!!! T.T
She said that she doesn't write letter of rec for big classes..... but then all my classes are biggg!!!
I am a graduating senior at Cal (UCB) so I only have this semester left!!!
I so far got ZERO recommendation letter...
I have few professors (from this semester and previous semesters) in my mind, but I am not sure how I should approach them...
I remember reading a post about this, but I can't seem to find it.
If you have link to the previous post, I would really appreciate it if you could post the link...
Also,,, if you are a student a Cal, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know any professor who is generous about recommendation letters...
Thanks!!!

Don't worry, I got rejected by one of my profs too. Don't be afraid to ask, professors (especially for premed classes) are used to students asking. If they don't think they can write a good one (in my case) they'll tell you honestly. You can either email them, or ask in person (which I think is better) and ask to set up a time to meet with them to talk about it. The reason for this is that the truth of the matter is, most big class professors won't really know you as a person, so it's good to have a little informal interview with them.

Another thing I've heard people do is have their TA write a letter which the prof signs off on. Some professors who have large hoards of pre-med students will opt to do this, again, since they don't know you as well as the TA. I don't think you should suggest this to the prof, if this is the way they operate they'll tell you. Or you can ask around to the TAs.

good luck!!


Edit: are you by any chance a non-science major? My advisor told me that i could get more recs from my major than from the sciences, as long as I fulfilled the minimum for med school apps.

 

[bamf7]

I go to OSU. Unfortunately every one of my science classes was a cattle call of 500 people into a lecture hall with multiple choice exams. I guess not getting to know professors is the opportunity cost of going to a large school with lots of research money. Anyway, no professors that I emailed got back to me. I had to go around and reintroduce myself in order to get letters. Persistence is the key. I would also recommend using Interfolio. That way, the professor only writes one letter and you can send it to as many schools as you need. You also know when the letter is submitted and have control over when it is sent to schools.

 

[bamf7]

o, btw are we supposed to get 2 from science and 1 from non-science?

It's different for every school. I would say 3 science professors, an advisor and/or a researcher will cover most schools.