Need some help!

[Chuckwalla]

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I asked this question differently in the MD forums, I would delete it if I could. Feel free to do so mods. No one is even looking at it and I am in quite a bind.

I do not need actual recommendation letters now, however I need people to agree to them in the very near future. I need two non-science profs, on top of others. I emailed my best shots, the most recent and the ones I knew best. One told me to pound sand, the other is not responding. I got A's in both the classes and I did nothing to piss them off.

As a science major I have not taken many non-science courses. I am stuck with classes where I have probably never even talked to the prof, again good grades are not a problem. Any tips for going about this and asking this people? Am I screwed or is there a way?

 

[Jpc984]

I asked this question differently in the MD forums, I would delete it if I could. Feel free to do so mods. No one is even looking at it and I am in quite a bind.

I do not need actual recommendation letters now, however I need people to agree to them in the very near future. I need two non-science profs, on top of others. I emailed my best shots, the most recent and the ones I knew best. One told me to pound sand, the other is not responding. I got A's in both the classes and I did nothing to piss them off.

As a science major I have not taken many non-science courses. I am stuck with classes where I have probably never even talked to the prof, again good grades are not a problem. Any tips for going about this and asking this people? Am I screwed or is there a way?

Are you close to and TAs? Maybe you can have the TA and the prof co-write the letter.

 

[Chuckwalla]

Are you close to and TAs? Maybe you can have the TA and the prof co-write the letter.

The problem is non-science recommendations, not many TAs to speak of.

The prof that is not responding actually has a TA. The prof knew of how well I did in the course, however. I am taking the lack of response as the cold shoulder, there has been plenty of time to respond.

 

[emt30119]

deleted my original response, didn't make much sense. I had the opposite problem. I had a non-science major, and took the required science classes only. So I knew my non-science professor, but not my science professors. But I was lucky enough to have two science professors willing to write my letter. We just sat down in their office. Since they didn't know me too well, they requried my resume, med school application/essay and transcripts. I remember the being nervous during the waiting period. who will respond, will they get the letter in soon ect.
Good luck

 

[Chuckwalla]

deleted my original response, didn't make much sense. I had the opposite problem. I had a non-science major, and took the required science classes only. So I knew my non-science professor, but not my science professors. But I was lucky enough to have two science professors willing to write my letter. We just sat down in their office. Since they didn't know me too well, they requried my resume, med school application/essay and transcripts. I remember the being nervous during the waiting period. who will respond, will they get the letter in soon ect.
Good luck

Sounds like there is hope. Did you just walk in their office hours or did you email them? I am coming to conclusion it is better to do office hours. It is harder to say no to your face, but it is a lot more nerve wracking than an email. This whole thing freaks me out like no other.

 

[ohiowbdoc]

I asked this question differently in the MD forums, I would delete it if I could. Feel free to do so mods. No one is even looking at it and I am in quite a bind.

I do not need actual recommendation letters now, however I need people to agree to them in the very near future. I need two non-science profs, on top of others. I emailed my best shots, the most recent and the ones I knew best. One told me to pound sand, the other is not responding. I got A's in both the classes and I did nothing to piss them off.

As a science major I have not taken many non-science courses. I am stuck with classes where I have probably never even talked to the prof, again good grades are not a problem. Any tips for going about this and asking this people? Am I screwed or is there a way?

I wouldn't ask for recommendations via email. Professors that have 1000 other kids asking them for lors are going to take you a lot more seriously (and appreciate it) if you ask them face to face. Plus they might actually remember having you in class if they see you, as opposed to reading yet another name in their inbox.

Find out when their office hours are, go stand in line with the other 10 kids that need help that day, and have all of the info (resume, personal statement, deadline, stamped/addressed envelope(s), etc) ready and waiting in your bag in case they agree to write it. Paperclip all of this stuff together and put it in a manila file folder with your name on it so they don't just throw that bunch of paper on the growing pile of papers taking up space on their desk.

In my experience, any professor that is worth getting a lor from will agree to write one for you if you go about handling it in a professional manner such as this. One to two weeks later, send them a nice thank you note (not via email), which will serve two purposes...1) Show them that you were worth putting time into a letter, allowing you to maintain a positive relationship with them in the future, and 2) it tactfully reminds them to write the letter if they haven't gotten around to it yet.

Good luck!

 

[Powdermonkey]

Are you applying this year? I would definitely suggest using Interfolio or something like that since you are having such a hard time getting LORs. That way you could get them to just write one letter and you could send it out multiple times without needing to go back and beg for another letter. Do you have an MDapps page that we can peek at?

I know what you are going through too... I asked my ochem prof to write me a letter when I finished Organic II in the summer to write me an LOR. I went back two months later and she asked me when I wanted her to write the LOR....*head explodes*... So I went back asking her about it for the next four weeks (Its almost November now, I asked July 31), and she kept saying she would write it this week and send it out. It was really frustrating for me because I dont have any science profs to write me letters because I was an engineering undergrad and then plus I graduated last year and my school was a good distance away from me so I couldnt just drop in on a prof and ask. I got lucky though and one of my profs from my senior year who happened to be the Dean of Engineering said he could write me a letter. So I used that as my second science letter. And I interviewed without all my LORs in and wasnt accepted until they all came in.

So anyways, good luck to you!

 

[Powdermonkey]

Oh, and +1 going to ask for the LORs in person and not via email.

 

[jetski360]

An email asking for a letter of rec is basically begging them to say no. I visited my professors thinking "If they say no, I will come back every single day until they do it". So go knock on some doors and make it happen.

 

[Chuckwalla]

I'm applying this coming year, my school makes us get the profs to agree to write the letter early.

I was advised to email by my pre-med advisor as a courtesy. I got a couple to agree this way. However, I'll go with my gut next time.

The message is clear, in person, not email.

I'm going to the office hours tomorrow of the prof who didn't respond. Obviously the prof who said no is out, because as you said email gave him a chance. I got a few others in mind to fill the rest. Thanks a lot for your help all!

 

[Jpc984]

I always sent an email asking if I "could talk to you about writing a letter of rec?" Then I would talk to the person at the arranged time.

 

[Chuckwalla]

I always sent an email asking if I "could talk to you about writing a letter of rec?" Then I would talk to the person at the arranged time.

Those are exactly the emails I sent.

 

[SmallTownEMT]

How big were some of the schools you all went to? They must have been gigantic. Is it common for people to get recommendations from professors that don't really know you but just had you in class?

Anyway, I digress. I would agree that in-person is the way to go. And it sounds like you're trying to start things early. You may need to respectfully bug a person a few times as well if you have a set deadline when you need the letter. In my experience a few professors can be a little forgetful.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

How big were some of the schools you all went to? They must have been gigantic. Is it common for people to get recommendations from professors that don't really know you but just had you in class?

No. And certainly not good letters. I went to UT, which is a huge school, and I still managed to get to know my profs. Partly because I knew I'd need letters from some of them at some point.

As a re-applicant, I had to go back and find new letter writers, so that made it a little tougher. Luckily, one client of mine (also a cycling training partner) happens to be the department chair of biotechnology at Austin Community College, so I worked in her lab for the summer and got a letter. Another client of mine (and another fellow triathlete) had been my intro biology professor. I also got letters from my boss, an ER nurse that I work with, and an ER doc (DO letter).

For one school (I can't remember which one now), I needed another academic letter, so I had to dig a little deeper. I e-mailed a prof whose class I had taken a couple summers ago, and I know she remembered me, but she still wanted to sit down and have a talk with me before she would write the letter. Most profs won't just look into the gradebook and fire off a letter for you.