Need serious LOR advice

[bschliewe]

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Hi all,

So, I was on the fence of whether or not I would be able to apply this year, mainly to Wisconsin, as I am a resident. Well, I met with the admissions lady, and she thought that I was a very strong and diverse applicant. So, I got my butt in gear and have everything filled out and ready to go. Except, the vet I worked for last year who said he would write a LOR left for an extended vacation last week and I cannot get a hold of him....he won't be back until October. I have 2 awesome letters from the Dean of my MPH program, and one from a Univ. Wi professor who used to be head of the Agricultural dept. (worked for him for years).

So, I am in South Florida right now, emailing as many vets as I can to try and find someone who will let me shadow and maybe get a letter. Any advice? I am kind of freaking out. One equine vet said I could shadow him next week... but how do I ask for a letter after only a few days?

I really want to apply this time around. I know I should have gotten to know and work for more vets, but I have been so involved with my MPH for the last year and a half that I only had time to work part time for the exotic vet.

 

[GellaBella]

How much are you going to start shadowing this vet next week?

I think that if you can go for a decent number of hours/days and let him know up front that you will need a letter or recommendation very quickly, like within a week or two, and they are ok with that then you should be ok.

It will definitely be stressful though cause you'll have to be on this person to make sure the letter gets written.

I work in a lab where we have people applying for graduate schools/medical schools/ vet schools (just me on that one) etc. sometimes they come in with no previous experience and needing a letter like NOW. As long as we are aware of that and as long as we see the person busting their butt in the time that they are here, we can write them a positive letter.

Of course we do have to say that we've only known the applicant for a short time, so I do not know how much weight it has.

Maybe you could shadow next week, get a LOR from this guy and then when your vet comes back from vacation in October, have him write a letter and send it along?

 

[twelvetigers]

I suppose you might as well contact Wisconsin and explain your situation and ask if there's any way you could submit a late letter to the school if you send it directly to them. It probably helps if Wisconsin is the only school you're applying to, and if you can still get a letter from the other vet to fill the spot for now. Not saying they'll agree to this, but it's worth trying, you know?

 

[bschliewe]

Thanks for the advice. I may wait until next week to call WI and ask. Another equine vet said I can shadow him every Saturday at the race track for as long as I want. I am going this Saturday and we will see how he is and if he open to that.

His partner and he feel very open about me shadowing them a lot, so maybe after this week I can ask for a letter, and offer to volunteer for them in exchange? Or is that just inappropriate? I was thinking like, help them with paper work, office stuff, or whatever.

Like I said, I will see how Saturday goes, and then decide if I will contact WI or not.

Plus, I am shadowing the other vet next week, and he seemed very nice and helpful.

Ugh....I hope I can pull this off. Maybe if I do and get accepted it will make for a fun SDN story.....lol

 

[CookieBear]

IMHO, I don't think you should feel obligated to offer your services/volunteer/time in exchange for a LoR.

I think you can ask to tag along and volunteer for X length of time, and be candid about your situation and application, and ask that, if you make a great impression, if you can expect a good LoR in return.

Yes, it's kind of one in the same, now that I write this...

I wouldn't, per-se, make promises or offer to volunteer for X time in the future in exchange for a letter now kind of thing. But-- maybe it's been done before and others will chime in.

I consider the LoR process as, you spent time with so-and-so, and you built a relationship - or rapore - or impressed them - and this person should, ideally, be proud to write you a letter of recommendation, in the hopes of seeing you improve yourself and grow. Yes, I'm a romantic idealist. 🙂