LOR anxiety

[hijk1]

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So I'm in the process of applying this year to optometry schools,
and I'm considering which professors to ask LORs from.
Unfortunately, my recent science grades have not been the most impressive,
and I'm worried that I won't be able to get a good LOR from these professors (I'm not very close with any either).
If I'm planning to apply around August,
would it be a bad idea for me to maybe wait for next semester to ask my future science professors for potential LORs?
or do schools not accept apps without LORs?
& how do schools feel about TA LORs (like ICO, SUNY, NECO..)?

Sorry for the long run-on questions.
Open to all advice and criticisms 🙂

 

[Mewcakes]

I was kind of in the same situation. I went back to a professor I got an A with more than 2 yrs previously, asked if she would feel comfortable writing for me. She said yes so I supplied her with my personal statement and cv. She wrote it for me and now I'm going to SCO.

I of course don't know what exactl she wrote, but I have a feeling adcomms have a pretty good sense of detecting when they're reading that kind of letter vs a sincere, personal letter. So if you want to use a previous professor, do it, but try to make sure your other writers are going to be able to write a very strong letter for you.

At the time that you e-submit your optomcas app, all your LOR writers must be designated and specified either as digital (email) or paper. you will not be able to add anyone afterwards. So if you were going to try to wait, you might risk submitting your app later than you may want. So for that reason, I might consider trying to find someone you already know/have taken.

As for TA letters, you may want to check specifically with those schools if those are the ones you're worried about. But usually a TA will have his supervising professor cosign the letter. Sometimes a professor doesn't do that though, so check with the professor too.

 

[socal2014]

hey mewcakes,

How can you be sure that the prof will write a good recommendation letter? isn't it a bit risky to ask someone who you have not spoken to for 2 years, to write a LOR for you?

Also, why must you submit a CV and PS?

 

[Mewcakes]

yeah, it was risky, but that was the position I was in. I spent a lot of time working instead of going to Office Hours. My mistake, for sure. No doubt I regret it, BUT if that's the position you're in and the schools require it, you kind of gotta do what you gotta do. I asked the professor if she could write me a good letter (as opposed to neutral one) and she said she could/would.

Professors, especially at large universities like UC Davis, are kind of used to this tactic. I mean you can't know all your students and aren't expected to. But if a student comes asking for help, are you really going to be the one person that stops an otherwise well-deserving student from continuing to graduate school? That's the take on it I've heard from some professors, anyways. And it's true. Do you really want to be that one person? They got an A in your class, which is a good thing. I mean it doesn't cost money to write a letter, so I don't think they really mind doing it if it will help.

You'll want to submit a CV and a personal statement, especially to a professor you don't know that well, because otherwise how else will they know what to write about you? Your personal statement will tell them about your ambitions and how you're approaching your future profession. Your CV will tell them what you have done up until now to further support the statements in your essay.
Example:
A general sentence a professor might write
"Mew has performed very well in my course of eukaryotic genetics and they are passionate about optometry school. I recommend them."

A more detailed sentence supported by evidence from your documents:
"Mew has performed very well in my class while still holding the position of officer in the university's pre-optometry club and working a part time job. My class is by no means easy and her dedication and ability to handle a heavy workload is well demonstrated to me."

See the difference? Plus, it IS kind of risky to hope that a professor will write a good letter about when don't give anything to go off of. I said letters don't cost money, but they do take a little bit of time and I'm sure professors find it easier to write letters when they have actual good things to say rather than very generic statements and having to come up with everything by themselves.

However, case and point...GO TO OFFICE HOURS AND GET TO KNOW YOUR PROFS. Not going is so not worth the stress when it comes to LORs. 😛

 

[socal2014]

Yikes, so basically you need to ask a prof that taught a class in which you got an A on or what? When writing the LOR, must the prof state what class he taught you? lol.

LOR's are kinda wierd, like so what if you performed well in a course? How does that relate to recommendation? Maybe schools just want to see you actually get a recommendation letter, kinda like schools want you to get atleast a 300 on the OAT just to see if you could do it? I'm just playing with situation, and trying to put my self in the shoes of the adcoms.

Anyone can answer this btw, not just mew.

 

[chocol8]

I definitely feel you here with this issue. I am a very independent learner and am able to pick up everything from lecture and fill in the gaps with the text. I tried my best to go to office hours and ask questions (even though I didn't really need to) but I just felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.

On the other hand, I have some classes where I did presentations and was very active in class discussion. I think its more likely that I'll be remembered by my professors in those classes, so I intend on approaching them for a LOR. Do you have any classes like that?

 

[Mewcakes]

I guess you don't have to ask a professor from whom you've earned an A, but of course that's ideal, right? If you knew one professor really well but got a B vs a professor you didn't know that well but got an A, go with the one you knew. But if you were like me and didn't know your professors barely at all, of course the courses with A's are going to be best. The professors probably don't have to say what they taught you, don't worry, they know what to write.

Good performance in a course definitely relates to recommendation. The purpose of having an LOR from a professor is so they can attest for your academic ability. Since optometry schools stresses so hard the vigorousness of their programs, they want to get a word from your professors.

I don't personally think that LORs are just a "see if they could get a letter" situation...but I also don't think the OATs are like that either. A good OAT score is definitely helpful and lower OAT score can definitely be detrimental. As such, a good letter will help an applicant a long way just like a neutral luke-warm letter will probably not fare so well.