letters of recom. question

[swamprat]

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So I have 2 letters in from doctors but I need at least 2 more. I know I can def. get 1 from my boss(unrelated to health field) and I can also probably get 1 from an advisor/future professor of mine in my department. However what I am worried about is this situation:

freshmen year I took biology, got an A and now I am a TA for the same class. It's a lot of work, 2 3 hour labs per week, grading, making quiz's, meetings to discuss next weeks lab, proctoring etc. Anyway, here comes the end of the semester and I really would like a LOR from this professor. The problem is I don't really think he knows me.. he knows my face im sure of it, but not me as an individual. I am however very friendly w. one of the ppl in charge of the labs. I plan on asking each of them for a letter within the next couple of weeks .. the professor is a really reasonable person, but what is something I could do just incase there is an issue .. tell him to talk to the lab head or give a personal statement or just not worry bc most likely itll be fine? I mean how well did the professors that wrote you LOR act know you .. the ones that you didn't do research with.

 

[aebvd97]

So I have 2 letters in from doctors but I need at least 2 more. I know I can def. get 1 from my boss(unrelated to health field) and I can also probably get 1 from an advisor/future professor of mine in my department. However what I am worried about is this situation:

freshmen year I took biology, got an A and now I am a TA for the same class. It's a lot of work, 2 3 hour labs per week, grading, making quiz's, meetings to discuss next weeks lab, proctoring etc. Anyway, here comes the end of the semester and I really would like a LOR from this professor. The problem is I don't really think he knows me.. he knows my face im sure of it, but not me as an individual. I am however very friendly w. one of the ppl in charge of the labs. I plan on asking each of them for a letter within the next couple of weeks .. the professor is a really reasonable person, but what is something I could do just incase there is an issue .. tell him to talk to the lab head or give a personal statement or just not worry bc most likely itll be fine? I mean how well did the professors that wrote you LOR act know you .. the ones that you didn't do research with.

I had two science professors and one English professor write my LORs. Each of these individuals were very familiar with me, as I had taken several classes with each, and I had made a conscious effort to talk with them and keep in touch. I also had two research advisers write LORs.

So, I think if you want them to write a LOR for you, you need to talk with them more. I think you can feel free to discuss with them your plans for a medical school and a career in medicine, as well as supply them with adequate academic and extracurricular activities for them to begin knowing you. My assumption is that they will be writing letters for you for next years app cycle. If this is so, you have plenty of time to form connections with professors. Definitely need to work on this because many schools require ~3 LORs to be from professors who taught you.

 

[swamprat]

I had two science professors and one English professor write my LORs. Each of these individuals were very familiar with me, as I had taken several classes with each, and I had made a conscious effort to talk with them and keep in touch. I also had two research advisers write LORs.

So, I think if you want them to write a LOR for you, you need to talk with them more. I think you can feel free to discuss with them your plans for a medical school and a career in medicine, as well as supply them with adequate academic and extracurricular activities for them to begin knowing you. My assumption is that they will be writing letters for you for next years app cycle. If this is so, you have plenty of time to form connections with professors. Definitely need to work on this because many schools require ~3 LORs to be from professors who taught you.

Well my deadline is in april bc thats when i need them for the prehealth review committee .. but thanks for the info

 

[HeatherMD]

I don't know what the protocol is for LOR's in the USA (so if anyone could fill me in, that would be very very helpful), but for the schools I'm applying to here, they actually ask that in your letter of recommendation, you comment on the applicants ethics & morals, and have to answer if you would ever have them as your own personal physician. I'm not taking any chances with that. All my professors know my face, but that's just because I sit in the front row of every class. I definitely can't ask them to comment on my ethics or answer if they'd have me as a physician -- they have no idea, I'm 1 student out of 400 for them.

I'm still collecting my LOR's right now.. one is from an employer, another from my english prof, and I need some from science professors. This is harder because I never made the effort to get to know them when I should have, so I'm spending a lot of time catching up and registering in courses taught by the same professors I had in the past.

Get a prof that knows you. You want STRONG letters from people pulling for you to become a physician, not just people that know you did well in their course.

 

[BeardedRunner]

I think advising him to speak with the other people that know you is a good idea. It will help him include some specific details about you.

However, I think LORs from the core science professors are generally the same. They just highlight your science skills. Other LORs, like ones from physicians or bosses, probably weigh more because they have more information about you as a person rather than a student of the sciences.

 

[thegetupkid]

For your professor, I would tactfully communicate to him/her, "Hey, I would love to get a strong recommendation from you, do you think you could do that?" If they care about your future he/she would hopefully try to get to know more about you to write an outstanding rec. or would respectfully decline the recommendation. It may be my wishfully hoping for the best, but I believe that these professors DO know the weight of their recommendations, and will take it seriously. For example, all my profs. sat down with me, we had coffee, they asked for my transcripts, records, any insightful essays, and ANYTHING I wanted to tell them--even if they knew me on a personal level.

If the prof. doesn't request any of these materials, I would be wary about the strength of his/her letter...

I just want you to know, I feel your pain. Going to UCLA, I had to attend lecture with 300 other people. But, go to office hours and talking to the professor about things that interest you and that will make the professor remember you (hopefully they are the same) was really important for me.

Good luck

 

[Muffinpuff]

I think you should definitely ask the professor, doctors are awesome rec people but still, a lot of schools i applied to asked specifically for me to give 2 science professor rec letters. Also, if he doesn't know you too well, don't just let him talk to someone that knows you. No one knows you better than you, so ask him if you can meet and you can discuss your motivations from medicine and what you've done and bring up some interesting things for him to remember. I went to a huge university and I can tell you that the professors didn't know me too well, but I made a point to do a rec letter appointment with them so we can be on the same page in terms of what we think is important. Be proactive and good luck!