Asking for recommendations when unsure of application timeline

[kes18]

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Hi!

I recently graduated with a neuroscience/management degree and am currently planning on taking 1-2 gap years to work as a consultant.

I heard it's best to ask for recommendations while you're still in school, but I couldn't decide who to ask before graduation and have only recently narrowed down to a few professors who I might want to ask for references.

My issue is, I currently am not sure when I'll be applying - I didn't take Orgo II w/ Lab or Biochem during undergrad. I am still deciding if I should try to take the classes in the evenings at a community college/as a DIY post-bacc or if I should apply for a formal post-bacc. In that case, I'm not sure if I should frame the ask as potentially for med school and/or a post-bacc program? I am also still studying for the MCAT but am aiming to take it in January 2019, regardless of when I decide to apply.

My questions are:
(1) How should I frame the LOR ask and should I ask now (shortly after graduation)?
Should it be more of a heads-up that I will contact them to write a letter in a year or so, or should I ask them to write a letter now/soon and store it through Interfolio or some other platform?
Unfortunately, I tended to be quite introverted during undergrad and struggled a lot with imposter syndrome/speaking up during classes, so I'm worried that even the professors I have in mind don't know me extremely well and won't remember me in 1-2 years/be no longer willing to write a reference.
(2) Should I frame the ask as for med school or potentially for both med school and post-bacc?
(3) If I do ask now, should I draft a rough personal statement so that the professors have something to refer to? I don't have a personal statement drafted yet since again, unsure when in the future I'm applying, but I've heard it's good practice to give professors a bit of background about your interest in grad school/etc.?
(4) Does anyone have experience setting up meetings with professors when working full-time? I recently started my new job and have been in the office the entire day during weekdays (I am still working close to my undergrad university though), and I would ideally like to meet in-person with the professors but realized that it'll be difficult scheduling/taking time off right off the bat. I'm realizing in hindsight that I really should've asked sooner, towards the end of the semester/when I was still on campus, but too little too late 🙁

My last two questions are a bit more general, but:
(1) Does anyone know if you can use LORs from professors from a post-bacc program or community college? Again, regretfully I wasn't great about participating in class in undergrad, which is part of the reason why I've been considering a post-bacc program (to complete biochem/orgo and potentially secure another LOR).
(2) Would it be okay to use references from sophomore year? I took more science classes during my first two years and ended up taking more business classes my last two years, so I've been struggling with figuring out which science professors to ask.

Sorry about the lengthy post -- would really appreciate if anyone who took gap year(s) or if anyone else in the community has any insight about next steps.

Thanks so much!

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Hi!

I recently graduated with a neuroscience/management degree and am currently planning on taking 1-2 gap years to work as a consultant.

I heard it's best to ask for recommendations while you're still in school, but I couldn't decide who to ask before graduation and have only recently narrowed down to a few professors who I might want to ask for references.

My issue is, I currently am not sure when I'll be applying - I didn't take Orgo II w/ Lab or Biochem during undergrad. I am still deciding if I should try to take the classes in the evenings at a community college/as a DIY post-bacc or if I should apply for a formal post-bacc. In that case, I'm not sure if I should frame the ask as potentially for med school and/or a post-bacc program? I am also still studying for the MCAT but am aiming to take it in January 2019, regardless of when I decide to apply.

My questions are:
(1) How should I frame the LOR ask and should I ask now (shortly after graduation)?
Should it be more of a heads-up that I will contact them to write a letter in a year or so, or should I ask them to write a letter now/soon and store it through Interfolio or some other platform?
Unfortunately, I tended to be quite introverted during undergrad and struggled a lot with imposter syndrome/speaking up during classes, so I'm worried that even the professors I have in mind don't know me extremely well and won't remember me in 1-2 years/be no longer willing to write a reference.
(2) Should I frame the ask as for med school or potentially for both med school and post-bacc?
(3) If I do ask now, should I draft a rough personal statement so that the professors have something to refer to? I don't have a personal statement drafted yet since again, unsure when in the future I'm applying, but I've heard it's good practice to give professors a bit of background about your interest in grad school/etc.?
(4) Does anyone have experience setting up meetings with professors when working full-time? I recently started my new job and have been in the office the entire day during weekdays (I am still working close to my undergrad university though), and I would ideally like to meet in-person with the professors but realized that it'll be difficult scheduling/taking time off right off the bat. I'm realizing in hindsight that I really should've asked sooner, towards the end of the semester/when I was still on campus, but too little too late 🙁

My last two questions are a bit more general, but:
(1) Does anyone know if you can use LORs from professors from a post-bacc program or community college? Again, regretfully I wasn't great about participating in class in undergrad, which is part of the reason why I've been considering a post-bacc program (to complete biochem/orgo and potentially secure another LOR).
(2) Would it be okay to use references from sophomore year? I took more science classes during my first two years and ended up taking more business classes my last two years, so I've been struggling with figuring out which science professors to ask.

Sorry about the lengthy post -- would really appreciate if anyone who took gap year(s) or if anyone else in the community has any insight about next steps.

Thanks so much!

1) yes frame it as a request for a letter now. They may not remember you later. Ask now.

2) You can DIY postbacc and you won't need letters. If it is a formal postbacc that you need letters for (not sure why) you can ask for them separately later. Ask now.

3) If they ask for it, give them something but when you ask I would make it clear that you aren't applying at least another year.

4) That's rough but you need to find out office hours or set up a meeting and take time off or go on your lunch.


1) Yes from the postbacc. You could from CC but I would try to get the ones from your main 4 year school.

2) Yes but it would have helped to ask them back then, especially if you didn't participate in class.



Get Interfolio so you can place any letters you get in there for safekeeping til future apps.

 

[kes18]

Thanks so much for your input, and wow, congrats on your acceptances!!

I guess for formal post-bacc programs, I have been looking at a few like Temple's ACMS program (which offers conditional acceptance to their med school but requires LORs similar to med school) and other formal Postbacc programs at Harvard, Tufts, and BU.
A bit unrelated from my main question, but if I just have to take Biochem and Orgo II w/ Lab, should I just try to do that through a CC (or through Harvard Extension School since they have night classes), or do you know if formal post-bacc programs generally result in higher application success rates?

 

[AllBleedingStops]

Thanks so much for your input, and wow, congrats on your acceptances!!

I guess for formal post-bacc programs, I have been looking at a few like Temple's ACMS program (which offers conditional acceptance to their med school but requires LORs similar to med school) and other formal Postbacc programs at Harvard, Tufts, and BU.
A bit unrelated from my main question, but if I just have to take Biochem and Orgo II w/ Lab, should I just try to do that through a CC (or through Harvard Extension School since they have night classes), or do you know if formal post-bacc programs generally result in higher application success rates?

Well it really depends on your GPA. If you have a solid application (particularly with regards to GPA) then it doesn't really make sense to do an entire formal post-bacc, even though that conditional acceptance can be tempting. Again, you can, but I think it is a lot of extra effort and money. What is your cGPA and sGPA?

Personally, if biochem and orgo II are your only classes you still need I would just do them as a DIY post bacc somewhere. Have you taken the MCAT yet? My recommendation for everyone is take biochem before you take the MCAT.

 

[kes18]

My cGPA and sGPA are similar, 4.4/5.0 scale with an upward trend (I think that converts to around a 3.5?). I know it's definitely on the less competitive side (the first year and a half were kind of rough, for not really academic reasons but affected my academics, and it was also when I took most of my science classes/premed reqs), but I am not really aiming for "top-tier" med schools and would be really happy to get into a "low-tier" school . I guess I'm not sure if it's worth taking a year to take classes for a post-bacc/SMP program, or if at this point, I should just try to take biochem + orgo II not through a formal program and focus on strengthening my clinical/service and shadowing experiences. Also not sure if this is relevant and will be considered, but I went to a HYPSM school.

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but have been studying with Kaplan/EK/KhanAcademy and am planning on registering for one of the Jan 2019 test dates. I have heard that you should take biochem before taking the MCAT, so I have been considering registering for Harvard's biochem fall night class but am not sure if I'll have enough time to do really well in the class with pretty recently starting my new job/MCAT studying/continuing shadowing/volunteering/etc.

 

[AllBleedingStops]

My cGPA and sGPA are similar, 4.4/5.0 scale with an upward trend (I think that converts to around a 3.5?). I know it's definitely on the less competitive side (the first year and a half were kind of rough, for not really academic reasons but affected my academics, and it was also when I took most of my science classes/premed reqs), but I am not really aiming for "top-tier" med schools and would be really happy to get into a "low-tier" school . I guess I'm not sure if it's worth taking a year to take classes for a post-bacc/SMP program, or if at this point, I should just try to take biochem + orgo II not through a formal program and focus on strengthening my clinical/service and shadowing experiences. Also not sure if this is relevant and will be considered, but I went to a HYPSM school.

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but have been studying with Kaplan/EK/KhanAcademy and am planning on registering for one of the Jan 2019 test dates. I have heard that you should take biochem before taking the MCAT, so I have been considering registering for Harvard's biochem fall night class but am not sure if I'll have enough time to do really well in the class with pretty recently starting my new job/MCAT studying/continuing shadowing/volunteering/etc.

Hey sorry I missed this reply. I would say you need to have an MCAT score before you figure out if you need a lot of post-bacc work. I would say just take biochem and orgo II on their own, maybe through your undergrad if possible. Get good grades and understand the biochem well for MCAT purposes. I think you can handle it and be a decent applicant for MD schools.