How to go about getting letters of rec from professors?

[yuki98]

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Hello everyone!

To start off, I'm going to be a 5th year in college as a premed dance major (I'm currently a 4th year). Then on top of that I need to do some post-bac work to boost my GPA before I can apply to medical schools. I guess that means I have a little more time to get letters of rec.

-How should I go about asking for a letter of rec? Aside from asking a few questions about the topics in lecture, I don't quite know how to bring it up :/. How do I get around to letting the professor know more about myself?

How did you guys approach your professors?

I am currently volunteering at a hospital, and as soon as I get on leadership team, I could get a solid letter of rec. I still need to do research, but I'm waiting until after complete my 240 hours in the volunteer program (almost done! 55 more hours to go! 😀).

-Also, since I'm planning on doing some post-bac. work, should I just wait until then to get letters of rec. from professor? I'm thinking about doing an informal post-bac. at a state university because money is very tight these days 🙁.
I suppose it might be easier for me to approach professors since the classes would be smaller?

What do you guys think?

 

[SolanoDoc]

You can go to their office and ask them!!! Duh!!!! You could also go to your college's premed advisory and ask them for reccommendation forms as well. If you are really shy just send them a letter asking for a recommendation.

 

[DocHomer]

One caveat: Make sure you only ask for letters from professors who seem to be well organized and on top of things. I got burned by a professor who didn't write me a letter even though I asked him 5 months in advance and reminded him twice. But I had enough letters, so it didn't hurt me at all. I was glad I asked for letters from more people than I needed in the first place.

Good luck.

 

[raebear]

Remember that most professors are there to help their students and part of their job description is writing their students letters of rec. When I approached my professors I brought them a copy of my resume and my personal statement (if you haven't written yours, maybe just write a page or so about why you want to be a doctor, and some of the activities you have persued to acheive that goal). It's really nerve-wracking, but you have nothing to lose!

 

[csmittyB]

Instead of asking questions during lectures, I would suggest going to all their office hours. This will give them a better chance to get to know you. Tell them that you would like a LOR from them and schedule a meeting with them. Don't forget to give them a resume or copy of you application, a personal statement, etc.