Help with letters of recommendation.

[kznova225]

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Based on my OAT scores, college GPA, & shadowing/hands on experience, I believe I'm a competitive candidate. The only problem is with my letters of recommendation. I already have one from the optometrist that I have been working with for the last couple of months (I shadowed her a couple of times before then). My issue is with a letter from a former professor. I just never made any connection with a professor of mine. I went to a large university and most of the close experience I had was with TAs and I was never someone who went to office hours (now I wish I had). Any suggestions who be much appreciated. FYI, I graduated from college in the spring of 2018 & I'm somewhat of an older applicant (I'm 26).

 

[chicagotech]

some schools accept a letter from a pre-health advisor instead of a professor

 

[lanaeyedoc2020]

Based on my OAT scores, college GPA, & shadowing/hands on experience, I believe I'm a competitive candidate. The only problem is with my letters of recommendation. I already have one from the optometrist that I have been working with for the last couple of months (I shadowed her a couple of times before then). My issue is with a letter from a former professor. I just never made any connection with a professor of mine. I went to a large university and most of the close experience I had was with TAs and I was never someone who went to office hours (now I wish I had). Any suggestions who be much appreciated. FYI, I graduated from college in the spring of 2018 & I'm somewhat of an older applicant (I'm 26).

Why don't you email your TAs and ask? Most schools just require a co-sign from a professor from what I know

 

[cateyegal]

I similarly went to a big university with science classes usually being lecture halls with like 300 people and I did not go to office hours. What I did was find a class I did well in and email the professor to get his or her current office hours. Then I would go and ask them in person and mention that I did well and I understand they might not know me individually but that the letter doesn’t have to be extremely personal. I got my good personal letters from my optometrist and my lab supervisor - I just needed the science letter to satisfy the requirement.

 

[kznova225]

some schools accept a letter from a pre-health advisor instead of a professor

Do you think it matters that the pre-health advisor I had is no longer a pre-health advisor at the school? She still works at the university though.

 

[chicagotech]

Do you think it matters that the pre-health advisor I had is no longer a pre-health advisor at the school? She still works at the university though.

Hmm i don't think it will matter. First step is to reach out to her and ask. I asked the pre-health advisor at my school for a letter and she simply said "we don't do that there, we can give you a letter stating we can't write a recommendation letter" lol

 

[michelle8484]

Look into that and also look into a Committee letter from your pre-health advisors. I made a video about how I went about getting letters from professors and the committee letter process. Even though I'm pre-dental the processes are the same so if you want to check it out I'll put in the link. LOR video