LOR - has anyone been rejected?

[fayevalentine]

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Hi guys! I was just wondering if anyone has requested a LOR from a professor and been turned down. Is this common, and what are some reasons they might say no?

I haven't had this happen (knock on wood!) but I am going to be requesting my first LOR from a professor very soon, and I'm so nervous she is going to just laugh me out of her office! Okay, not literally laugh, but politely decline.

 

[magicdock]

I'm in the exact same position lol

 

[Blake1e]

Hi guys! I was just wondering if anyone has requested a LOR from a professor and been turned down. Is this common, and what are some reasons they might say no?

I haven't had this happen (knock on wood!) but I am going to be requesting my first LOR from a professor very soon, and I'm so nervous she is going to just laugh me out of her office! Okay, not literally laugh, but politely decline.

If you are rude or if your grade in the class is not high enough then a professor might turn you down. Never happened to me, I'm always polite and only asked professors who gave me an A in their class.

 

[LaughingGas]

I had the highest grade for immuno so i thought I could get a generic letter, but the professor told me "hmm I dont know you well". Nicely rejected my request.

 

[gryffindor29]

If you want a strong letter of recommendation, it's best to ask someone who knows you well. Not just someone who earned an A in a class. One who can speak on your behalf on your academic abilities, mannerisms/etiquette, personality, etc. I've had a professor tell me she wasn't comfortable writing me a LOR because she didn't know me well enough to write about. I completely respected her decision because I wouldn't want a poor or bland LOR anyways. She was honest enough to say that and so I asked other professors who knew me better.

Hope this helps! Good luck with all 🙂

 

[kingenamel]

It can happen, luckily it didn't happen to me but one of my professors announced in class that you had to have at least an A- in their class to get a strong letter from him. It really depends on the professor.

 

[Meat Gyver]

I asked my anatomy teacher (super strict retired Russian surgeon) for a LOR and he agreed. Then another student asked right after me and pretty much was told "No." Then when asked why he couldn't, he gave him a death stare and said in the thickest Russian accent, "I can write something, but do you really want the person reading it to find out you regularly come late to class, spend 1/2 the class on your phone/talking, and do little to understand class material despite performing poorly on exams?"...then starts laughing (the kid started laughing too, as did 1/2 of the class who were still in the classroom).

 

[techyguy]

Writing recommendations is, "part of their job." It's a big part of what allows their students go out into the world and succeed. That's the way I've heard two different professors describe it; I admit other professors might disagree. You want them to be honest with you if they don't think they can write a good letter, so don't take a rejection personally. I was also told that one Orgo professor at my school has a standard form letter he uses for C students who are too persistent.

Offer to come in and meet with them. I think it helps to offer to send them a list of your acheivements, a personal statement and your transcript, just so they know a little more about your academic pursuits.

 

[fayevalentine]

Good points from everyone, I definitely would prefer a rejection than a poor LOR.

Great tips, techguy. Thanks!

 

[LFA20]

I got rejected for a lor from a professor that I went to see almost the entire semester. I got a c on the first test but worked my butt off to end up with an A in the class. Still she said" you worked very hard and I'm happy you got an A but you're not in top 10% of class...

 

[Ferneezy]

I got rejected for a lor from a professor that I went to see almost the entire semester. I got a c on the first test but worked my butt off to end up with an A in the class. Still she said" you worked very hard and I'm happy you got an A but you're not in top 10% of class...

prof had her head up her ass. your comeback performance is exactly the reason i'd write a strong rec if i were in her shoes.

but not literally. heels look like they hurt...

 

[Toadesque]

The worst is when a professor says yes to writing one and then proceeds to ignore your emails for a month asking what the status is on the letter because nothing is getting sent in. One of my biggest pet peeves because it is something I NEVER do to people. If I tell someone I am going to do something then I do it and if I can't then I let them know ASAP. I don't care how "busy" you claim to be, there is always time to respect other people's time.

 

[arlmay]

I had more than one occasion where I was turned down for a letter of rec. I can pretty surely say it wasn't due to a low level of academic performance. I had gotten 100% on every one of my immunology exams for one of the teachers classes and had an A+ in the class but at my school all the students in these classes are trying to get letters and the teachers are lazy as **** in some cases and aren't willing to go out of there way to write letters. I say this because I got 1/3 letters from professors I asked at school at a time I had gotten all As for the past few semester and even went out of my way to get to know the teachers. Just my opinion but I'd advise getting your letters asap before the summer comes and you actually need them to apply

 

[FeralisExtremum]

It's happened to me. A professor had written an LOR for me previously, but I was applying to medical school at the time, so I needed all my LOR's updated for dentistry. One of them turned me down (several years after he had written the original) because he didn't have much he could say, or something? I can't even remember.