LOR requests keep being denied?

[bloodandguts]

So I am applying to my school's committee which requires 5 letters. I got 4. I have 1 science, 1 nonscience, 1 research, and 1 volunteering.They require 2 science.

I have emailed every single science teacher I ever had in undergrad. The ones I know, the ones I got A's in. I just got desperate last week and even emailed the ones with B or C grades. I just explain when/what class I had, something about me (I participated in your study, or I helped out with the so and so). I then explain I'm applying through a committee and would like a letter of recommendation for medical school but would like the opportunity to meet with them to chat and catch up. Thank them for their time, etc.

Seriously, half my emails have just been ignored and the other half were refusals, such as, "Try someone else."

I have a little more than a month to get this last recommendation. What can I do? Insist for some of the ones who said try someone else? Ask a professor I didn't have? Any help would be appreciated.

I know DO doesn't always require two science but I did everything the committee likes except this last letter and will probably get a great committee recommendation if I can hunt one professor down that will give a half-decent or passable letter.

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[cuwhenucme]

I have the similar situation. maybe worse than yours... I asked professors and they said yes for the first time...but I send them another email and told them more details, or keep in touch with them in a month..My emails have been completed ignored...

I think, for me, it would be better to get the rejection instead of the fake promise. At least I would contact other professor sooner to see if they can help with the letter...

I guess some people just have hard time to say "no" to others?

 

[cuwhenucme]

So I am applying to my school's committee which requires 5 letters. I got 4. I have 1 science, 1 nonscience, 1 research, and 1 volunteering.They require 2 science.

I have emailed every single science teacher I ever had in undergrad. The ones I know, the ones I got A's in. I just got desperate last week and even emailed the ones with B or C grades. I just explain when/what class I had, something about me (I participated in your study, or I helped out with the so and so). I then explain I'm applying through a committee and would like a letter of recommendation for medical school but would like the opportunity to meet with them to chat and catch up. Thank them for their time, etc.

Seriously, half my emails have just been ignored and the other half were refusals, such as, "Try someone else."

I have a little more than a month to get this last recommendation. What can I do? Insist for some of the ones who said try someone else? Ask a professor I didn't have? Any help would be appreciated.

I know DO doesn't always require two science but I did everything the committee likes except this last letter and will probably get a great committee recommendation if I can hunt one professor down that will give a half-decent or passable letter.

By the way, do you mind I ask, which D.O. school requests 5 letters???

 

[bloodandguts]

None, my school has a committee that takes all 5 letters, and makes a committee letter. This one last science one might not be stellar, but I've done double all the work the committee require so I'm confident if I can get this last letter in, they'll write me a very nice LOR.

 

[cuwhenucme]

None, my school has a committee that takes all 5 letters, and makes a committee letter. This one last science one might not be stellar, but I've done double all the work the committee require so I'm confident if I can get this last letter in, they'll write me a very nice LOR.

Thanks, I think you'd better discuss your committee to reduce the number of LOR to 4. You should be fine....

 

[karling]

I'm assuming you're still living in the area where your schools is, right? Try asking them in person. Email is so impersonal. When I asked for LORs, I tracked them down at their office hours or even just waited outside a classroom until their class ended and asked then. Hand them your CV and a rough draft of your personal statement. One of my professors is terrible with technology, so I also gave him a prepaid envelope addressed to Interfolio, just in case he couldn't (or didn't want to) figure out how to upload it electronically.

Email is easy to ignore. Talk to them in person.

 

[AM508]

Perhaps for the professors that did not respond to the email, you should stop by their office. I know some professors are just terrible about returning emails as they usually get inundated. My recommendation for anyone wanting LOR's is that you should always ask in person and have a resume, grades and a brief well-written paragraph about your goals ready should they say yes.

Edit: looks like @karling and I had the same idea at the same time !

 

[bloodandguts]

I was going to just go to office hours initially but I have no idea when they are. And neither does their departments. I was hoping by suggesting we meet, they might just give me their office hours.

 

[cuwhenucme]

Thank you for your suggestions! @karling @AM508

Do you guys send them emails firstly, if they ignore, then come to meet them in person? Or just find an opportunity to meet them in person (but never told them before or made any appointment with them before)?

I felt if the professors do not respond the emails, maybe this indicates they don't want to help. So trying to find a way to meet them in person won't help... because later you will have to send them emails again, right? They would again (!) ignore you even they said yes to you at that moment...

 

[AM508]

Do you guys send them emails firstly, if they ignore, then come to meet them in person? Or just find an opportunity to meet them in person (but never told them before or made any appointment with them before)?

For the professors that I asked, I prepared all of the things that I previously mentioned and stopped by during the professor's open office hours.

 

[High_protein_diet]

I'm assuming you're still living in the area where your schools is, right? Try asking them in person. Email is so impersonal. When I asked for LORs, I tracked them down at their office hours or even just waited outside a classroom until their class ended and asked then. Hand them your CV and a rough draft of your personal statement. One of my professors is terrible with technology, so I also gave him a prepaid envelope addressed to Interfolio, just in case he couldn't (or didn't want to) figure out how to upload it electronically.

Email is easy to ignore. Talk to them in person.

Right. It's much better form to find out their office hours, come prepared with your resume and sGPA, and have an honest conversation about why you came to them and why you want a letter.

Your chances of getting a letter greatly improve and it's much harder for them to say no.

 

[cuwhenucme]

For the professors that I asked, I prepared all of the things that I previously mentioned and stopped by during the professor's open office hours.

But I haven't done with my personal statement yet.....

 

[karling]

But I haven't done with my personal statement yet.....

Write one. Just a rough draft. It doesn't have to be what you submit to AACOMAS, but it does need to have some information of who you are and why you want to be a doctor.

I was going to just go to office hours initially but I have no idea when they are. And neither does their departments. I was hoping by suggesting we meet, they might just give me their office hours.

Go to their office and see if there's a schedule posted outside. Another option is to look at the course schedule and find out when and where that professor is teaching a class. I did this for one of my professors because I didn't know where her office was, much less her office hours. Wait outside the classroom until the class ends, wait for the students to clear out, and then go inside and ask.

Thank you for your suggestions! @karling @AM508

Do you guys send them emails firstly, if they ignore, then come to meet them in person? Or just find an opportunity to meet them in person (but never told them before or made any appointment with them before)?

I felt if the professors do not respond the emails, maybe this indicates they don't want to help. So trying to find a way to meet them in person won't help... because later you will have to send them emails again, right? They would again (!) ignore you even they said yes to you at that moment...

I never sent an email about LORs, with the one exception of sending them a link to my Interfolio account (through Interfolio). Everything else was done in person.

 

[Major]

What posters said above ^

In person is always best when it comes to stuff like this.

(If still in area)

 

[AM508]

Write one. Just a rough draft. It doesn't have to be what you submit to AACOMAS, but it does need to have some information of who you are and why you want to be a doctor.



Go to their office and see if there's a schedule posted outside. Another option is to look at the course schedule and find out when and where that professor is teaching a class. I did this for one of my professors because I didn't know where her office was, much less her office hours. Wait outside the classroom until the class ends, wait for the students to clear out, and then go inside and ask.



I never sent an email about LORs, with the one exception of sending them a link to my Interfolio account (through Interfolio). Everything else was done in person.

100% This. It is never too early to start working out ideas for a personal statement. Writing a brief synopsis of your motivations and intentions for a letter writer would be a great way to start getting some ideas for your real PS down. I never sent an email for an LOR, it is my understanding that some professors (at least at my school) see just sending an email as unfavorable. If you think about it, a couple of professors told me that they usually spend at least 2-3 hours working on a LOR for a student, if you are asking them to dedicate a couple hours of their life to write you a very important document, you at least owe them the courtesy of asking in person. "But, that's just like [my] opinion, man"

 

[bloodandguts]

I mean to ask them in person, hence requesting a meeting. But I was told by a previous professor to include why they are meeting you, so it isn't a mystery. I'm doing it to get reacquainted and ask for letter.

I suppose I'll look up their teaching schedules and ambush them in person, since they don't seem willing to give me a time to meet them . . .

 

[cuwhenucme]

100% This. It is never too early to start working out ideas for a personal statement. Writing a brief synopsis of your motivations and intentions for a letter writer would be a great way to start getting some ideas for your real PS down. I never sent an email for an LOR, it is my understanding that some professors (at least at my school) see just sending an email as unfavorable. If you think about it, a couple of professors told me that they usually spend at least 2-3 hours working on a LOR for a student, if you are asking them to dedicate a couple hours of their life to write you a very important document, you at least owe them the courtesy of asking in person. "But, that's just like [my] opinion, man"

In my case, I sent out an email to a professor then she said yes. Then I sent her my updated resume and asked her if I can meet her in person. But then my email was completed ignored. I sent her another email one month later just to keep in touch, still no response.

I wonder if I should still put any hope on her for the letter. I understand they are doing me a favor; therefore, I am totally willing to travel to them, meet them in person, take to them in face and let them know me more. But in my case, I think she is not willing to put more time to know me. Maybe she just want to change the name in one of the letters she wrote for her past students into mine...

Another instructor, I asked for letter before, is in Greece now. I have no way to travel to his place to visit him in person even I want it very much....

 

[bloodandguts]

^ You and I are having very bad luck. Things that I have no control of keep going wrong with the process of applying.

 

[cuwhenucme]

^ You and I are having very bad luck. Things that I have no control of keep going wrong with the process of applying.

Yes I really think I am in bad luck. I did all my undergraduate course in a foreign country. So I have very limited number of professor I can choose for the letter. I can only choose from my U.S. graduate program or a few pre-med courses I took.

I am also out of the school for a while. So it is very hard to reconnect with some professor whom I haven't updated them ever since I graduated. Like saying "hey, Still remember me?? I was in your class eight years ago!"

 

[referee3]

Just apply without your committee. Problem solved.

 

[GUH]

Just apply without your committee. Problem solved.

This. Five letters is more than what is required for most DO schools. I know you feel like a committee letter can help but don't worry too much if you can't get one. Just be sure to also get a DO or at least an MD letter.

 

[karling]

Just apply without your committee. Problem solved.

This. Five letters is more than what is required for most DO schools. I know you feel like a committee letter can help but don't worry too much if you can't get one. Just be sure to also get a DO or at least an MD letter.

The problem is still there. OP has 4 letters currently (not 5), and only one of them is a science LOR. Without a committee letter, most schools require (at minimum) 2 science LORs. So OP has the same issue either way: Obtain another science LOR.

 

[referee3]

The problem is still there. OP has 4 letters currently (not 5), and only one of them is a science LOR. Without a committee letter, most schools require (at minimum) 2 science LORs. So OP has the same issue either way: Obtain another science LOR.

Good point. Forgot about that.

 

[GUH]

The problem is still there. OP has 4 letters currently (not 5), and only one of them is a science LOR. Without a committee letter, most schools require (at minimum) 2 science LORs. So OP has the same issue either way: Obtain another science LOR.

Ah yeah thanks for bringing that up.