I am highly interested in hearing who people use for letters of recommendation when they are a non-traditional applicant. I graduated from UNL in 2022 having only attended for 3 years. Of course a pandemic happened that took away several in-person experiences. This will be my 3rd cycle of applications and am struggling to figure out the best LOR for myself. I have 2 vets and an employer but no college professor. I did great academically but I feel I am so removed from the college now, I'm not sure who I would even reach out to. What have other non-trads done in this situation??
Letters of recommendation-nontrads
- Thread starter olsonvet
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Were your classes at UNL pretty small? Or were they large and impersonal? One of your professors may be willing to write you a letter if you did really well in the class.
I was a non-traditional student. I had letters from a small animal vet, an equine vet, one of my bosses from my engineering job, and 2 professors I had in post-bacc classes (but I took these classes at a super tiny university so the class size was small).
I was a non-traditional student. I had letters from a small animal vet, an equine vet, one of my bosses from my engineering job, and 2 professors I had in post-bacc classes (but I took these classes at a super tiny university so the class size was small).
Majority of my classes were large and several online due to the pandemic. The last 2 application cycles I did have a professor write a letter but now I feel I am a bit far removed. The professors I connected with the most were from 2021. I know 2 years doesn't seem much but they are seeing over 50 students per class and have about 3-4 classes. Appreciate the response!
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I wasn't nontraditional, but I had a similar situation/feelings in regards to getting a professor letter particularly during my second application cycle.
Do you actually need a professor letter for the schools you plan on applying to? I dropped the professor letter during my second application cycle because it wasn't a requirement for the school I was applying to and I didn't feel it was going to be a strong letter anyways both because of how removed I was from the class of the professor I asked and I wasn't that strongly connected to any of my professors in the first place.
Do you actually need a professor letter for the schools you plan on applying to? I dropped the professor letter during my second application cycle because it wasn't a requirement for the school I was applying to and I didn't feel it was going to be a strong letter anyways both because of how removed I was from the class of the professor I asked and I wasn't that strongly connected to any of my professors in the first place.
this is really helpful! I will look closely at the schools I intend on applying to and make sure the professor piece isn't required.
I am a nontrad and took my science classes online. I received some great advice from an admissions advisor at Tufts. She told me to reach out to my professors and said that I would be surprised at how many actually remember me and would be willing to write me a rec. I thought there was no way that she could be correct! But I followed her advice anyway. I reached out to my online profs and got a great rec letter from one of them. You have nothing to lose by just asking. Good luck!
great advice! I can certainly do that!
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Nontraditional and current (now) 2nd year vet student at TAMU; I also struggled with determining which professor to use and ended up going with 3 veterinarians. I did make sure that the school I applied to (I only applied to TAMU) didn't have a requirement for a professor or a limit on veterinarians. TAMU did not ask for letters though; they instead send a link to each reference asking many, many questions about the potential student (from what I've heard, it's pretty thorough so I was advised to pick references that would be able to answer the questions well).
Good luck!
Good luck!
How interesting! I am planning on applying to TAMU this fall so thank you for this information.
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I was in a similar situation to you.
I was out of undergrad for almost 3 years when I decided to apply to vet school. Tufts required 2 LORs from professors and I went to a HUGE school and didn't really get to know my professors well. I reached out to my advisor (who I barely saw my last two years of undergrad because at the time I didn't think I was going into the vet profession), and a professor who I didn't think really remembered me, but I took a lot of classes with them.
I sent my resume along too and they both said yes to writing me letters. I don't know how good their LORs were, but I also submitted 2 LORs from vets I worked with and am now recently graduated from Tufts, so they must have been fine.
I think professors understand and get requests often from people who decide to go back to school and need LORs, I'd just offer to send your resume. It can be scary to reach out to somebody who might not remember you, but the worst they can say is no.
I was out of undergrad for almost 3 years when I decided to apply to vet school. Tufts required 2 LORs from professors and I went to a HUGE school and didn't really get to know my professors well. I reached out to my advisor (who I barely saw my last two years of undergrad because at the time I didn't think I was going into the vet profession), and a professor who I didn't think really remembered me, but I took a lot of classes with them.
I sent my resume along too and they both said yes to writing me letters. I don't know how good their LORs were, but I also submitted 2 LORs from vets I worked with and am now recently graduated from Tufts, so they must have been fine.
I think professors understand and get requests often from people who decide to go back to school and need LORs, I'd just offer to send your resume. It can be scary to reach out to somebody who might not remember you, but the worst they can say is no.
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Are you close enough to any university that you might be able to do some research with a professor? I had an okay LOR from my post-bacc biology professor (did well in both intro bio classes, did crap in his genetics class), but then I was able to get into a research project with a newer faculty member & then took two classes with her & developed a good relationship that way. She wrote me an absolutely glowing recommendation that made me ugly-cry. It's very possible to get past the academic portion with a research faculty member!
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I had a similar question about the professor letter of recs, because in the past I've submitted one from my advisor/professor/research professor, but when I just went to email her I am now lockout of my old university email and idk what to do because I don't remember her email otherwise. Most of the schools I want and can apply to want that academy LOR.
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Could you contact the department she's affiliated with? If your school doesn't have an online directory?
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I was a traditional applicant but was in the same boat with covid taking away a lot of my professor interactions! I ended up not getting a letter from anyone at my school and went with 2 vets and a local shelter director and I was still accepted at a school that strongly suggested a professor being one of the LORs. Its been a little bit since I’ve applied but perhaps this may be something you can talk about in the explanation statement. Best of luck to you!
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I have been out of school for almost 8 years, but I took a class last summer with a professor and since he has worked where I am currently working and we had a conversation about how the class topic intersected with my work, I thought I would give it a shot. He said he would definitely write the letter of recommendation and I just needed to give him my resume and essay so he knows more about why I am applying and what I am doing outside of school. I think just finding someone to ask is daunting but most people are willing to help out if they feel they can! So just ask. The worst they will say is no, and let them be the ones to say it. Don't say it for them.
