Letter Rec Questions

[drew4523]

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When I'm getting letters of recomendation how long should I give the professor?

What people should I ask the letter of recomendation from?

How high should be my grade have been in there class?

And lastly one of my prof asked me to tell her info abt me since she doesnt really know me what kind of things should I tell her to say??

 

[bsps_2007]

in my opinion, the lor from a professor is used to convince the adcom that you are capable of being successful in pharmacy school. the professor you ask should be one that taught a difficult subject (organic chem, molecular biology, etc). obviously, you should get an A in their class if you want them to "recommend" you.

 

[imprecious]

When I'm getting letters of recomendation how long should I give the professor?

What people should I ask the letter of recomendation from?

How high should be my grade have been in there class?

And lastly one of my prof asked me to tell her info abt me since she doesnt really know me what kind of things should I tell her to say??

When I'm getting letters of recomendation how long should I give the professor?
As soon as you get an account established on PharmCAS, you should input the contact information for the people who you want to write your LOR's. If there is a particular deadline that you have to meet for certain schools, make sure those professors (or whomever) know when that deadline is.

What people should I ask the letter of recomendation from?
Firstly, get LOR's from people who will meet the requirements that certain schools may have (professors, pharmacist, etc), depending on the school. Secondly, get LOR's from people who will be able to portray to the adcom's what type of person you are on the academic, personal, professional, etc level. Ask professors, employers, pharmacists, volunteer coordinators, whomever; basically people you've worked with and who would know you well enough and would be comfortable with portraying you to the adcom.

How high should be my grade have been in there class?
Grade-wise is not as important as the level to which they know you. You may have gotten an A in a class, but the professor may not know you at all. As opopsed to a class in which you've gotten an B or a C and the professor knows how hard you really worked for that grade and how you strived to do well to earn your grade.
Yes, it would look good for you to get an LOR from a professor who taught you a class in which you got an A in. But certain pharm schools, like UCSF, said that the LOR does not necessarily need to be from a professor of a particular class or based on a grade you've earned, but based on how well they'll be able to portray you on the academic/ personal/ professional level to the adcoms.

And lastly one of my prof asked me to tell her info abt me since she doesnt really know me what kind of things should I tell her to say??
I suggest that you start off by giving her a copy of your personal statement. Assuming that the personal statement for PharmCAS still has to do with the question asking about why you want to be a pharmacist, it would be a good resource for her to start on writing your LOR for pharm school. Tell her about your interest, with the pharmacy profession and also outside as well.

I hope my responses make sense. Best wishes!

 

[smallkitty00]

Hi Imprecious!

If i ask a CHEM professor whom I was the TA for, will his LOR be considered an academic or job-related one?

Thanks,

 

[WhoaTasneem]

The infomration you provided on letters of rec was especially helpfull. Thanks!


I was aslo wondering who we shoudl get our letters form. So far I am asking the pharmacist that I work for and an Organic chemitry porfessor.

I dont know who the last one shoudl be form? I have an english professor that knows me very well who wil write one. Or a second pharmcist who knws me moderately, or a genreal bio porfessor/adviosr who alo knows me moderatley well. Who wuodl you reccomend i get teh third letter form?


I'm having so much trouble deciding and the clock is ticking!

When I'm getting letters of recomendation how long should I give the professor?
As soon as you get an account established on PharmCAS, you should input the contact information for the people who you want to write your LOR's. If there is a particular deadline that you have to meet for certain schools, make sure those professors (or whomever) know when that deadline is.

What people should I ask the letter of recomendation from?
Firstly, get LOR's from people who will meet the requirements that certain schools may have (professors, pharmacist, etc), depending on the school. Secondly, get LOR's from people who will be able to portray to the adcom's what type of person you are on the academic, personal, professional, etc level. Ask professors, employers, pharmacists, volunteer coordinators, whomever; basically people you've worked with and who would know you well enough and would be comfortable with portraying you to the adcom.

How high should be my grade have been in there class?
Grade-wise is not as important as the level to which they know you. You may have gotten an A in a class, but the professor may not know you at all. As opopsed to a class in which you've gotten an B or a C and the professor knows how hard you really worked for that grade and how you strived to do well to earn your grade.
Yes, it would look good for you to get an LOR from a professor who taught you a class in which you got an A in. But certain pharm schools, like UCSF, said that the LOR does not necessarily need to be from a professor of a particular class or based on a grade you've earned, but based on how well they'll be able to portray you on the academic/ personal/ professional level to the adcoms.

And lastly one of my prof asked me to tell her info abt me since she doesnt really know me what kind of things should I tell her to say??
I suggest that you start off by giving her a copy of your personal statement. Assuming that the personal statement for PharmCAS still has to do with the question asking about why you want to be a pharmacist, it would be a good resource for her to start on writing your LOR for pharm school. Tell her about your interest, with the pharmacy profession and also outside as well.

I hope my responses make sense. Best wishes! [/QUOTE]

 

[imprecious]

Hi Imprecious!

If i ask a CHEM professor whom I was the TA for, will his LOR be considered an academic or job-related one?

Thanks,

Since you were a TA, I would say this is a job-related LOR, unless you had the professor was an instructor for any of your classes.

 

[imprecious]

Hi Imprecious!

If i ask a CHEM professor whom I was the TA for, will his LOR be considered an academic or job-related one?

Thanks,

Since you were a TA, I would say this is a job-related LOR, unless the professor was an instructor for any of your classes.

 

[MoXiEguRl]

When I'm getting letters of recomendation how long should I give the professor?

What people should I ask the letter of recomendation from?

How high should be my grade have been in there class?

And lastly one of my prof asked me to tell her info abt me since she doesnt really know me what kind of things should I tell her to say??

You should get them right away.. if possible i would have them email pharmcas. Only because MY LORs were lost in the mail!!!!!!!! A total nightmare! So last minute i was rushing around trying to contact them to send it in via email!

I got my LORs from chem, bio teacher, and my pharmacist i worked for.

At least a B in the class.. or else make sure you are comfty with the teacher to trust they are going to give a good recommendation about you. There has been a few students on here who have said teachers that they thought would make the best recommendations really gave their input about how the student talked too much in class and they didnt' feel they were mature to be in pharmacy school. Yet the teacher treated the student like they were gold!

As for meeting with the teachers it is VERY important to do this. simply because they know you from a grade prospective.. how you are in their class. THey have no idea why you have a want or need to be in pharmacy school. Explain yourself and your passion for the profession, what made you want to presue pharmacy. Another words sell yourself.. this is what you will be doing up until you are accepted so get use to it. Grades are important, but what you've done in the past is now stuck in the past.. it is your time to shine and give the commitee your best face forward. They dig for problems in your past.. they wanna see you crack. Best bet for you to do before you interview is do mock interviews to get your ideas set in your head. *sorry im jumping ahead..* you'll be fine.. you're doing the right thing by asking everyone on here what to do and what not to do..

Best of luck to you.

 

[BeaverOSU]

As a new pre-pharmacy student I am wondering how to get acquainted with professors on a level which I can get a letter of recommendation in a few years. Most of these professors have hundreds and hundreds of students in their classes and it seems nearly impossible to build an acedemic relationship directly with them.

From my experience at another college, the professors seem to have their students seek help from teacher assistants and the professors aren't very approachable since they're short on time. What are some things one can do to stand out and get noticed by the professor? Getting a good grade will show you did well in the class, but it seems most the time the professor only knows your name on a piece of paper; they don't have time to really get to know you.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[smallkitty00]

So, for an academic LOR, i have to ask another professor?

Thanks.

 

[smallkitty00]

Here is the detail of my situation:

1. I already asked and put in pharmcas system 3 recommenders: the CHEM professor I was TAing for, my supervisor where I've been tutoring at school, and one pharmacist.

2. The prof i worked for wasn't teaching any of my classes.

3. Now, if i have to ask another prof (whom I took a class with and TA for), I cannot do it through pharmcas (>3).

4. Is it impolite to tell the previous prof and/or recommender that I don't need his anymore?

5. Or can I just submit the LOR of my 2nd professor directly to the schools?

Thanks for helping me!!!

 

[smallkitty00]

I have another question. I already submitted my reference contact info but pharmcas hasn't emailled any of them. How long does it take pharmcas to do so? Or I have to submit the fee before they will?

Thanks again!

 

[panda103]

As a new pre-pharmacy student I am wondering how to get acquainted with professors on a level which I can get a letter of recommendation in a few years. Most of these professors have hundreds and hundreds of students in their classes and it seems nearly impossible to build an acedemic relationship directly with them.

From my experience at another college, the professors seem to have their students seek help from teacher assistants and the professors aren't very approachable since they're short on time. What are some things one can do to stand out and get noticed by the professor? Getting a good grade will show you did well in the class, but it seems most the time the professor only knows your name on a piece of paper; they don't have time to really get to know you.

Thanks!
Matt

One way to get professors to recognize you is to ask questions or respond to their questions during lectures.

As for the teacher assistant, you could get him/her to write your LOR and get the professor to cosign it.

I have another question. I already submitted my reference contact info but pharmcas hasn't emailled any of them. How long does it take pharmcas to do so? Or I have to submit the fee before they will?

Just to let you know, I think once you submit your references, pharmacas emails them right away because when I submitted mines, all three references submitted their LOR within a week.

 

[smallkitty00]

Thanks! So, if the schools I'm applying use pharmcas system, I only need to submit my LORs through pharmcas, right? I heard that WesternU also requires 3 reference forms in their supplemental application?

 

[panda103]

Thanks! So, if the schools I'm applying use pharmcas system, I only need to submit my LORs through pharmcas, right? I heard that WesternU also requires 3 reference forms in their supplemental application?

I'm gonna apply to UCSF and they ask to mail out 3 references to them with their supplemental app. even though they also use pharmcas. So, you'd have to check the school.