Getting good recommendations

[chrisski]

---

Members do not see this ad.

As a non-science major at a huge public school it seems nearly impossible to get good science recommendations. Even the 400 level classes at my school have over 50 students, while all the intro are 300-500 students. Thus, the best that one can possibly do is sit in the front row and go to office hours. But here, even office hours have 10-20 students. My professors know my first name, and I'm sure they'd write me a letter, but what are the realistically going to say. Chrisski is personable, sat in the front row, came to office hours, and earned a good grade? That sounds like a generic letter to me. Furthermore, each professor hear only teaches 1 class, so there is no way to have a professor multiple times. Anyways, just venting my frusturation....

 

[kexy]

As a humanities major, I will probably be getting some generic letters from science faculty too. I think the best thing you can do is impress them enough with your performance in class that they are willing to do you a favor. And by that, I mean that they are willing to meet with you, to read your personal statement and CV carefully, and to articulate why they feel you would be a good medical student and physician... not just write a standard letter about how you always came to class and earned a good grade.

 

[Monocles]

There's still a few weeks left before the end of the semester. If you can, go visit them during office hours and ask them if they know you well enough to write you a letter. Sometimes they will be honest and say "well, I don't know if I can", etc. But yeah, that seems like quite the challenge if you have a class of 300-500 people.

 

[chrisski]

As a humanities major, I will probably be getting some generic letters from science faculty too. I think the best thing you can do is impress them enough with your performance in class that they are willing to do you a favor. And by that, I mean that they are willing to meet with you, to read your personal statement and CV carefully, and to articulate why they feel you would be a good medical student and physician... not just write a standard letter about how you always came to class and earned a good grade.

Interesting. Do most of you let your letter writers read your personal statement and CV. I wasn't aware...

 

[Yaphet]

I am in the same boat but just got two of my intro science professors to write me letters. They may not be the strongest since they don't know me that well but I gave them my PS, a resume, a biography, and met with them to talk so they could have some content to write about. You just have to ask and hope that you have nice professors! If you got A's in their class, that's usually good enough for them.

 

[rockyrado]

As a non-science major at a huge public school it seems nearly impossible to get good science recommendations. Even the 400 level classes at my school have over 50 students, while all the intro are 300-500 students. Thus, the best that one can possibly do is sit in the front row and go to office hours. But here, even office hours have 10-20 students. My professors know my first name, and I'm sure they'd write me a letter, but what are the realistically going to say. Chrisski is personable, sat in the front row, came to office hours, and earned a good grade? That sounds like a generic letter to me. Furthermore, each professor hear only teaches 1 class, so there is no way to have a professor multiple times. Anyways, just venting my frusturation....

I'm a science major at a public school, and I still feel your frustration. Every time I hit up office hours, there's at least thirty other kids there just trying to get a leg up on the homework. My foreign language teacher likes me though. If only that helped 🙂

 

[snookiez]

ask many, a few will accept, and a few of those will have you ghost write or completely write your own LOR. Use the ones you write yourself for the amcas, duhhh!

also, do try to talk to your prof's the last few weeks and KIT WITH EMAIL. As a doc, you'll have 10 mins to chat up and make a first impression with each of your patients- just enough time for them to trust you enough to slice them open, give them pills, etc. so, seriously, stop complaining here and just do it. Make those minutes count. 🙂

 

[Tots]

Interesting. Do most of you let your letter writers read your personal statement and CV. I wasn't aware...

Yes. For one of my professors it is a requirement to provide your CV and personal statement. 2/3 of my letter writers recently sat me down after I provided them with everything and asked what I wanted the letter to highlight. They explained that addition to talking about my achievements that they were directly involved in(research project, class w/e) that they often highlight other characteristics such as campus involvement and community service. I was surprised how much input they wanted from me about what to include in the letter.