Honestly they are the stupidest things in the world. I wont be applying for a couple of years but seriously, what the hell is the point of LoRs? My grades and DAT will tell you if I am capable of succeeding in dental school, my volunteering will show that I enjoy helping others, my shadowing will show my interest in dentistry, my interview will show I can talk with others and am not socially inept, but LoRs? They are so fricking pointless. Why the heck does it matter what a teacher thinks of me? It is stupid that I have to make the time to "fake" a friendship with a professor when my only purpose when talking with them is helping me out with the course, I don't care to make personal relationships with professors because it's pointless. A teacher can't tell dental schools you are capable or whatever, it's just bull**** fluff on their part or they don't know what they are doing and it will hurt your app.
My thoughts on LoR's
- Thread starter hs2013
- Start date
And this is not saying that I am incapable of getting good LoR's, I have good relationships with all of my professors because they see me working hard and always asking questions and doing well in the course, but LoR's in themselves are stupid.
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2009
- Messages
- 788
- Reaction score
- 191
if this is true...why complain?
I don't know, I guess I haven't got to the point of LoR's yet and who knows if the teachers I have now will really remember me much 2 years down the road, though I suppose I could ask my teachers junior year, but even then, you never know what they will say, if they will word it well, etc. I just think that such an important aspect of my life, the dental school application, shouldn't be influenced by what someone else has to say.
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2013
- Messages
- 413
- Reaction score
- 112
You will be fine, as long as you develop a good relationship with these teachers they will write you a good letter. Im sure they have written hundreds of LORs before and they know how to word it for you. If it makes you feel better look at LORs as more of a formality, dental schools will look at your DAT and GPA first and the letters are there just to make sure there aren't any red flags for them to deny you an interview.
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2013
- Messages
- 214
- Reaction score
- 124
what? it absolutely should be influenced by what other professionals have to say about you... you will be applying to professional school and others that have that type of experience know what makes a good candidate. the whole point is to get an interview, and once you do then you can show your personality/"I can talk with others and am not socially inept" .... but how are they supposed to see that through your electronic application that has basically just has your stats and experiences? if you make a good/lasting impression, then through your LORs they will show and tell what type of person you are! c'mon.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
- Messages
- 262
- Reaction score
- 151
Just don't ask for any and see if the schools notice.....
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2013
- Messages
- 78
- Reaction score
- 81
I pretty much agree.
I consider myself a "people person" but I don't think I was able to establish such strong professor relationships because:
1. I hated the fake feeling I got when I tried to force that relationship. Going to office hours even if I understand all the material, just to suck it up to a professor who is clearly too busy/stressed to chat anything else? Sounds slimy. Sometimes, students are lining up to get sincere help. I felt in the way. Yeah, sometimes I actually needed help and I would go to ask about things I was actually stumped on. However, I never truly felt the need to go to every office hours to seek help. Thus, although I was on a first-name, friendly basis with most of my profs, it wasn't that big of a deal.
2. On top of that, I didn't have that much time! Okay, everyone is busy. I know I wasn't the only one. But man, balancing D1 athletics, a job, like a bagillion other extracurriculars, all while trying to not go insane.....Wait, now I have to make time to basically shove a relationship down a professor's throat? Poop.
I think LORs can be made more reasonable by not mainly restricting them to professors.
Yeah, unfortunately, our professional life is as valuable as other people interpret it to be (mostly). That's life. Our path is primarily dependent upon how we affect others. However, a life that is not harmonious with our science professors shouldn't be indicative of my potential as a dentist.
I consider myself a "people person" but I don't think I was able to establish such strong professor relationships because:
1. I hated the fake feeling I got when I tried to force that relationship. Going to office hours even if I understand all the material, just to suck it up to a professor who is clearly too busy/stressed to chat anything else? Sounds slimy. Sometimes, students are lining up to get sincere help. I felt in the way. Yeah, sometimes I actually needed help and I would go to ask about things I was actually stumped on. However, I never truly felt the need to go to every office hours to seek help. Thus, although I was on a first-name, friendly basis with most of my profs, it wasn't that big of a deal.
2. On top of that, I didn't have that much time! Okay, everyone is busy. I know I wasn't the only one. But man, balancing D1 athletics, a job, like a bagillion other extracurriculars, all while trying to not go insane.....Wait, now I have to make time to basically shove a relationship down a professor's throat? Poop.
I think LORs can be made more reasonable by not mainly restricting them to professors.
Yeah, unfortunately, our professional life is as valuable as other people interpret it to be (mostly). That's life. Our path is primarily dependent upon how we affect others. However, a life that is not harmonious with our science professors shouldn't be indicative of my potential as a dentist.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2014
- Messages
- 453
- Reaction score
- 292
When the OP graduates dental school , he is going to complaint about jobs asking for references to apply hahaha
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2006
- Messages
- 8,521
- Reaction score
- 2,797
You mean when you start hiring your staff, you will not care to have any references?
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2013
- Messages
- 315
- Reaction score
- 127
I fretted about LORs in my situation, too, with a million things to do, and an inability to glom onto a research project or become a TA with a professor, but I managed to form meaningful relations with exactly 3 professors. I didn't think I could do it in 1.5 years.
The best indicator of how well you do in the future at something is how well you've done in the past already (imagine that), and LORs show how well you handle student-teacher interactions. That's probably important to the teachers who will be interviewing you and letting you in.
They could probably broaden the scope to include D1 coaches, but, you know, they don't *have* to - they can be picky.
The best indicator of how well you do in the future at something is how well you've done in the past already (imagine that), and LORs show how well you handle student-teacher interactions. That's probably important to the teachers who will be interviewing you and letting you in.
They could probably broaden the scope to include D1 coaches, but, you know, they don't *have* to - they can be picky.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2013
- Messages
- 63
- Reaction score
- 2
.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2013
- Messages
- 536
- Reaction score
- 239
This thread comes off pretty immature, remember you're entering a professional school so professional recommendations are important. Also, you don't need to be the student that constantly goes to office hours to get a good LOR from a professor. I could probably count the number of office hours I've been to in my entire college career on one hand. You get good LORs by doing well in their classes and then sending them/asking them for a professional request to meet with them in regards to your future and having them write you a LOR. I set up meetings with each of the professors I requested a LOR from, spoke with them about my plans and goals, and that gives them plenty to write great letters.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2012
- Messages
- 457
- Reaction score
- 172
You don't have to suck up and ask dumb questions like some of the freshmen kids I see in office hours. Go there whenever you have a confused moment with the material, and you cannot tell me you never experienced confusion while studying your material. What I do is, instead of using google to get my answers, I go to the professor. Using google is much easier and less painful, but if you want some type of relationship with your professor, ask them instead of google.
To those who ask fake questions just to get in touch with their professors, don't you realize your professor can tell if you are faking it? They don't want to say it to your face, but they do know, especially those who has been teaching for +5 years.
To those who ask fake questions just to get in touch with their professors, don't you realize your professor can tell if you are faking it? They don't want to say it to your face, but they do know, especially those who has been teaching for +5 years.
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2013
- Messages
- 122
- Reaction score
- 31
In the real world, there is an important skill known as brown-nosing. It is important that they know you know how to do it.
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2006
- Messages
- 478
- Reaction score
- 3
I can say one thing about why LORs may be important. In some of my classes, I have done very well. And yet, there was some tension between me and the professor. Why? I have noticed that as soon as I start skipping a professor's class, 80% of the time the professor will have a negative attitude towards me. They will treat me like I'm one of the bad students, regardless of my grade.
So my whole point is, perhaps the Dental schools want to see if you can follow the rules and general expectations of an authority figure. By not going to class, I broke one of the most basic expectations a professor has for me. And yet, that broken expectation won't be shown in my grades.
So my whole point is, perhaps the Dental schools want to see if you can follow the rules and general expectations of an authority figure. By not going to class, I broke one of the most basic expectations a professor has for me. And yet, that broken expectation won't be shown in my grades.
