I'm not really sure how to ask for a LOR. Email? Show up at their office?

[RBC]

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What's the proper way to ask for a LOR?

I've been told not to email the professor, which is understandable. However, if you're not emailing them, then the only other option is to basically show up at their office at a random time, which may not be best for them.

What's the best way to go about this?

 

[Microglia]

What's the proper way to ask for a LOR?

I've been told not to email the professor, which is understandable. However, if you're not emailing them, then the only other option is to basically show up at their office at a random time, which may not be best for them.

What's the best way to go about this?

Show up at office hours (hopefully not your first time at office hours if you're getting a rec, but even so), have brief casual conversation, transition into explaining that you're applying to med school this year and because you've thoroughly enjoyed their class, you were wondering if they would be willing to write you a LoR.

If they say yes: thank them, then tell them that you will send all the materials necessary (CV, instructions on how to upload letter to letter service or send to AAMC depending on how your school handles letters, transcript, etc) by email. Send them that day.

If no: thank them for their time and bail (politely)

 

[kairos18]

Agreed with above. Also, something that people told me when I was applying was to ask my writers if they would be willing to write me a STRONG letter of recommendation. A form or "meh" kind of letter probably doesn't do anyone any favors. If they seem hesitant or feel unable to write more than just "he/she got an A", then you should probably look for someone else. Good luck!

 

[jeghaber]

For most of my letter writers, I emailed them first to 1) explain my plans to apply to medical school, 2) ask whether they would be willing to write me a strong LOR and to 3) request a meeting to discuss the matter in person if they were indeed willing to write me a letter. This way, I gave them the chance to decline via email without feeling guilty and was also able to meet with them in person without risking a long line of other students also waiting to meet with them during office hours. When we did schedule a meeting, I came with a folder that included a draft of my personal statement, transcript, a CV and a cover letter that reminded them of the contexts in which I knew them (including whether we had discussed my career path previously) and what strengths I believed I had exhibited through our interactions. I later sent a short reminder email a few weeks before my school's committee's deadline and after they had submitted the letter, stopped by with a short thank you note and small box of chocolates.

There are many ways for going about this, and few approaches would be outright "wrong." Your relationship with your letter writers may be different from mine. For example, with my PI, I just asked him in person, since I saw him at least three times a week and it would have been odd to send such a formal email when all of our other emails were short one-liners that more often than not included a youtube link or gif of some sort.

 

[RBC]

Show up at office hours (hopefully not your first time at office hours if you're getting a rec,

I plan on asking a few professors that taught me last semester, and I visited their offices probably half a dozen times throughout the course of the semester for assistance.

However, since it's a new semester, I no longer know when they're holding office hours...and I wouldn't want to show up if they're in the middle of something relatively important.

 

[WaterPog]

e-mail to make an appointment, just like you would with any other professional.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I've been told not to email the professor, which is understandable. However, if you're not emailing them, then the only other option is to basically show up at their office at a random time, which may not be best for them.

What's the best way to go about this?

e-mail to make an appointment, just like you would with any other professional.

I agree with WaterPog. Whats wrong with sending an email, or do you mean not asking in the email itself?

 

[Goro]

Go see them in person, and ask eye to eye: Do you know me well enough to write a good LOR?"

What's the proper way to ask for a LOR?

I've been told not to email the professor, which is understandable. However, if you're not emailing them, then the only other option is to basically show up at their office at a random time, which may not be best for them.

What's the best way to go about this?

 

[RBC]

e-mail to make an appointment, just like you would with any other professional.

Should I specify within the email that the appointment will be in regard to a LOR?

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Should I specify within the email that the appointment will be in regard to a LOR?

I would do what Goro and Waterpog say. Make an appointment to stop by for office hours, then in office hours ask. Dont mention it in the email.

 

[organdonor]

Email. Too awkward to straight up tell someone NO to their face. You don't want any guilt letters. If you are asking them for a LOR you should already know them fairly well.

Also agree with above as far as wording it with "strong letter of rec" or "positive" LOR or something so that they aren't writing you a neutral or even a poor letter.

 

[Cmdr_Shepard]

Emailing to ask is fine IMO. Whomever you ask you will likely know very well (supervisor, instructor for years, etc), and them saying no ideally shouldn't even be on the horizon.

 

[WaterPog]

Should I specify within the email that the appointment will be in regard to a LOR?

I haven't mentioned it to any of my recommenders, but they all had a pretty good idea why I was there when I showed up for the meeting.

This shouldn't be something you're stressing over, particularly with professors. They are used to this, it happens all day long around this time of year every year...

 

[KindofBlue]

I don't agree with mentioning about the LOR in the e-mail.
Just e-mail and set an appointment saying you want to discuss something about medical school or whatever that you're actually curious about (preferably a topic somewhat pertinent to the application process) so they may at least have an idea.
If you don't have a relationship with the recommender, either way it's going to be awkward, but might as well have the courtesy to ask them in person.

If you do have a good relationship, they'll simply be happy to write a letter when you ask them, at which point you could hand over the recommendation packet you've prepared. And perhaps a box of home-baked cookies or pie or something.
Thank you notes or gifts could be given maybe about a couple weeks after you ask them I think, just to give them a slight nudge to complete the letter in time.

 

[snowflakes]

A professor once told me he prefers emailed LOR requests so he doesn't have to make a decision on the spot, and can think about it a bit before responding. So, perhaps something like @jeghaber 's approach would be good. That said, I asked all of my LOR writers in person, but I also already had a strong relationship with each of them.

 

[crimsonkid85]

Email the professor. In the email, tell him what the LOR is for, a short statement about why you are applying for it, and attach your CV.

 

[Laurenxxxx]

I ask in person. But that may be different since I go to a very small school and talk to a lot of my former and current professors daily. So I wasn't nervous at all and it was pretty casual.

Even if you go to a large school and barely know the professor, I personally would recommend going in person. If I were a professor, I would see it as much more professional for the student to come talk to me face to face. I do see how some professors would prefer email so they don't have to make an on the spot decision, as a previous poster said. So, if you are asking a professor that you aren't sure how they will respond, you could say "would you take some time to consider writing me a letter of recommendation and let me know in the next week". So they can either say yes on the spot, no, or that they will think about it. And of course be prepared with a resume.

 

[hlancaster]

I think you should mention in the email that you're asking for an LOR. For the same reason that snowflakes brought up. What I did was email professors briefly explaining my situation and asking them if they had time to discuss the possibility of an LOR. Then when I met with them, I shared more details and asked if they could write a strong letter.

I think letting the professor know before the meeting allows them the time and courtesy to decide at their leisure. Ultimately, I think the answer you'll get from your professor with this tactic will be more meaningful since they will have had time to think about it and they aren't being put on the spot.

I know it may seem rude to ask for a favor via email instead of in person, but I don't think that's the case here. I would imagine that professors prefer to know the nature of the meeting beforehand. IMO you're actually showing the professor more respect by letting them know ahead of time why you want to meet. Imagine if you were the professor. Wouldn't you like to know ahead of time?

PS Sorry for the terrible grammar. I know my verb tenses are inconsistent, but I'm too tired to fix it. Hopefully my post still makes sense

 

[NuttyEngDude]

The purpose for asking in person is if you can make an evaluation from visual cues (they look uncomfortable or uneasy about it) and give them the opportunity to gracefully back out. If you show up in person and ask them and pressure them or worse make it seem like a life or death situation then that is bad and could be why they say they prefer e-mail. In older times, it was the etiquette to ask in person but in today's text me-dont call me world, it may be different. The other problem with email is if it is unanswered you are left to your own devices (such as an overactive imagination) to figure out why and what to do about it next.

Ultimately no matter which way you approach them, you want them to be honest with you and have their actions reflect their words. If they do not then they are a bad choice as a letterwriter.

 

[LizzyM]

May I make one suggestion? Don't provide your CV. You don't want a letter that regurgitates your CV; you want one that describes what the writer has observed about you. If you have essays or other graded material that you did for the writer's class, perhaps you can include that sort of thing. I like to write about how well the student did on essay questions and class discussion in my class and this is what adcoms are looking for, not a rehash of stuff that could be complete B.S. on your CV.

 

[jeghaber]

May I make one suggestion? Don't provide your CV. You don't want a letter that regurgitates our CV; you want one that describes what the writer has observed about you. If you have essays or other graded material that you did for the writer's class, perhaps you can include that sort of thing. I like to write about how well the student did on essay questions and class discussion in my class and this is what adcoms are looking for, not a rehash of stuff that could be complete B.S. on your CV.

This makes a lot of sense, and it's something I might have done differently if I had thought it through. I included mine just in case my letter writers were curious about what else I had been up to outside of our own interactions (…and also to not have a folder of literally two sheets of paper consisting of a cover letter and a personal statement, hahah) -- but, as you've said, I suppose that may have in fact been counterproductive. My guess/hope is that since they knew me well on a personal level, they didn't end up really needing them. That being said, @LizzyM, I'm curious as to whether you think CVs would be useful for professors who might know applicants in more superficial contexts or if it would add little to an already mediocre letter.

 

[LizzyM]

This makes a lot of sense, and it's something I might have done differently if I had thought it through. I included mine just in case my letter writers were curious about what else I had been up to outside of our own interactions (…and also to not have a folder of literally two sheets of paper consisting of a cover letter and a personal statement, hahah) -- but, as you've said, I suppose that may have in fact been counterproductive. My guess/hope is that since they knew me well on a personal level, they didn't end up really needing them. That being said, @LizzyM, I'm curious as to whether you think CVs would be useful for professors who might know applicants in more superficial contexts or if it would add little to an already mediocre letter.

You shouldn't be asking those folks for letters....

I understand that some students who attend big schools with little to no interaction on a personal level with a faculty member can't get a decent letter. If you have someone in class and then are their TA or have other opportunities for them to put your name with your face then that's good. If they don't know your name & face, I think it is hard for them to write more than what is in the gradebook (e.g. "he took my class, he had the highest grade on the midterm in a class of 600, he may have taken it easy on the final because he had a strong A+ going into the final and scored in the top 25% on the final for a grade of A.")

 

[jeghaber]

You shouldn't be asking those folks for letters....

I understand that some students who attend big schools with little to no interaction on a personal level with a faculty member can't get a decent letter. If you have someone in class and then are their TA or have other opportunities for them to put your name with your face then that's good. If they don't know your name & face, I think it is hard for them to write more than what is in the gradebook (e.g. "he took my class, he had the highest grade on the midterm in a class of 600, he may have taken it easy on the final because he had a strong A+ going into the final and scored in the top 25% on the final for a grade of A.")

That's what I had thought. In that case, I assume an added CV won't do too much good. Now that my own application cycle is near its end, I've been able to take a step back and see how distinctly individual everyone's path is in getting this culminating year -- it's crazy, and pretty neat, how in the end, we're all competing to reach the same goal despite coming from such different backgrounds and experiences. Thanks, as always, for your good advice on these forums!

 

[Ambitionista]

Per advice from a former applicant, I emailed my LOR requests. I attached my PS but did not include a copy of my transcript or CV.

In the body of the email I opened up with the purpose of the email (requesting a LOR), what I am requesting a LOR for (med school), and why I have decided to pursue medicine.

Next, I detailed 2-4 reasons why I particularly requested a LOR from that person (e.g. key experience I had with that professor outside of the classroom and what I took away from it, special projects in the class with said professor, progress in lab, etc.). I included this information 1) to remind my letter writer of key experiences I had with them and 2) to in a way provide them with information they may use in my letter. For me, I viewed each of my letter writers as a mentor in some capacity. I admired some for their leadership outside the classroom, some for their work in the community, and others for their innovation in their projects, which I mentioned. I then tried to identify ways I demonstrated these qualities as well and wrapped it up with how these qualities will benefit me in my journey in medicine.

Lastly, I indicated when the LOR needed to be submitted (I asked 4-6 weeks in advance), how to submit it, and reiterated my appreciation for the key experiences I had with them and their willingness to write my LOR should they decide to.

I was met with positive feedback for this approach and do believe my LORs have been strong enough to help me throughout this application cycle. I did have personal relationships with the majority of my letter writers, however. I not only visited with them during office hours, but I assisted them with outside projects and regularly sought advice from them so I am sure it was no surprise to them that I was applying to med school nor that I requested a LOR.

 

[Mad Jack]

Office hours. Follow up via e-mail. Do your best to not be creepy.

 

[MCATISEZ]

Email. Too awkward to straight up tell someone NO to their face. You don't want any guilt letters. If you are asking them for a LOR you should already know them fairly well.

Also agree with above as far as wording it with "strong letter of rec" or "positive" LOR or something so that they aren't writing you a neutral or even a poor letter.

Completely disagree. Face to face interactions are far more valuable. I would suggest emailing the professor (or showing up during office hours when no one else is there). In the email I would ask to schedule a meeting to discuss "some future career goals".