Not prepared when asking for letters

[Ihave Nonamè]

I asked a couple professors over email before break if they would write a LoR for me. I wrote that I understood winter break would not be an ideal time for them to focus on this. I suggested in the email that we discuss this at a time in the upcoming quarter that would be best for them. And this was likewise not the best time for me - I did not include a CV or personal statement because these simply were not ready or filled out to my liking. I thought maybe they would be able to consider some points about their experience with me for now and jot them down so that they don't forget me entirely at the time that I really need this done.

Both asked for the CV in their "yes" email to me. I responded saying I appreciated it and would reach out again in winter. I'm feeling dumb and realizing now that they were expecting my CV immediately. I shortly after asked one if they would also act as a reference for me (for a campus position I was applying to) and they responded saying "sure no problem, but I need that CV and a letter deadline". I sent something their way that was truly a resume, wrote a brief background about me and stated that I had really hoped to send over all of the supporting documents 1-2 months before an April deadline. They didn't respond to this. I'm hoping this was sufficient and did not leave a bad taste in their mouth. I feel I made a real mistake asking this early. I felt that if I waited until February to ask, they would have forgotten me entirely. I was in their classes, in person, back before covid and one was very limited interaction, though I thought we connected well, laughed a lot together and I was a pretty good student. I wasn't sure what else to do; I was risking them forgetting their experiences with me as a student.

Do I email the other professor "apologizing if I was not clear" and stating that I will reach out to them in February with everything - CV, statement bullet points/draft, Interfolio link, etc? Or do I just not say anything again until I am ready? My CV is so bare that I'm honestly not even ready to apply for this coming cycle though I will be graduating in spring. I'm a transfer and really needed the time that the pandemic took from me...I'm hoping to get some volunteering and shadowing on there within the month to have something filling the gaps, even if recent. I've also just started again in research and am hoping to add more tasks/responsibilities from this position. What do I do from here to remain on good terms with them and to ensure that I get the best letter from them?

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[seanm028]

Can you get a CV ready today and send it? If you have a resume, a CV isn't far off. Especially being early in your career, there probably won't be a whole lot on your CV that isn't already on your resume.

If you're concerned that your CV is "too bare" and you're not even planning on applying in this coming cycle, then these instructors might not be the best sources for LORs. You might be better served either trying to nurture those relationships (maybe by taking more classes with them or volunteering in their labs, if they are researchers) until you're ready for their LORs, or developing relationships with future instructors.

 

[candbgirl]

You should have had your documents together to send immediately when they requested them.Professors are busy and I suppose there is a possibility that when you are ready, they might not have the time. So then what will you do? From what you have shared, you don’t seem to have much of a relationship with these people if they might forget you after a couple of months. I agree with @seanm028 . If you aren’t ready to apply hold off on the letters and build your application.
If you are intent on getting these letter send your packet of information this week with a big apology for the lateness of your response. Just because you will be ready in February/March doesn’t mean the writer will be able to comply with your April deadline. Read the forums and see how long it can take to get letters from faculty. It can and does take months.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

Can you get a CV ready today and send it? If you have a resume, a CV isn't far off. Especially being early in your career, there probably won't be a whole lot on your CV that isn't already on your resume.

If you're concerned that your CV is "too bare" and you're not even planning on applying in this coming cycle, then these instructors might not be the best sources for LORs. You might be better served either trying to nurture those relationships (maybe by taking more classes with them or volunteering in their labs, if they are researchers) until you're ready for their LORs, or developing relationships with future instructors.

I will be graduating soon and won't have access to professors after. I better trust those in-person relationships than the coming online ones. I couldn't say how well professors remember me. At times I am simply pessimistic. At others, realistic.

Do you mind looking at my resume and telling me if converting to a CV would honestly make much of difference/improve these letters?

 

[seanm028]

I will be graduating soon and won't have access to professors after. I better trust those in-person relationships than the coming online ones. I couldn't say how well professors remember me. At times I am simply pessimistic. At others, realistic.

Do you mind looking at my resume and telling me if converting to a CV would honestly make much of difference/improve these letters?

Sure — PM me.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

You should have had your documents together to send immediately when they requested them.Professors are busy and I suppose there is a possibility that when you are ready, they might not have the time. So then what will you do? From what you have shared, you don’t seem to have much of a relationship with these people if they might forget you after a couple of months. I agree with @seanm028 . If you aren’t ready to apply hold off on the letters and build your application.
If you are intent on getting these letter send your packet of information this week with a big apology for the lateness of your response. Just because you will be ready in February/March doesn’t mean the writer will be able to comply with your April deadline. Read the forums and see how long it can take to get letters from faculty. It can and does take months.

Should I email these professors and tell them that I no longer need a letter from them? Simply, I do not have strong supporting documents to give them. I'm a nontraditional transfer student that worked as a server before and throughout community college, commuted 2-4 hours each day and did not get any hospital, volunteering or research experience in that time. I transferred, determined to get a range of experiences and the pandemic shut it all down after just 5 months or so of in-person for me - the lab I had started training for shut down; the scribe position I was going to begin fell through. I'm feeling incredibly frustrated and stressed. I couldn't take on these low wage jobs without the help of financial aid from the school. Soon I'll graduate and will be in the same position (with no restaurants to turn to).

Unless I could somehow get a wealth of experience in these next few months, I won't be ready to apply in spring. I will graduate in spring however and will have no professors from then on to reach out to. I thought these professors would for now be able to jot down some personal interactions they had with me as their primary sources of evidence (before they forget entirely). But if this isn't possible -if the CV is absolutely necessary to get started- they wouldn't have been strong letters anyway.

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

Should I email these professors and tell them that I no longer need a letter from them? Simply, I do not have strong supporting documents to give them. I'm a nontraditional transfer student that worked as a server before and throughout community college, commuted 2-4 hours each day and did not get any hospital, volunteering or research experience in that time. I transferred, determined to get a range of experiences and the pandemic shut it all down after just 5 months or so of in-person for me - the lab I had started training for shut down; the scribe position I was going to begin fell through. I'm feeling incredibly frustrated and stressed. I couldn't take on these low wage jobs without the help of financial aid from the school. Soon I'll graduate and will be in the same position (with no restaurants to turn to).

Unless I could somehow get a wealth of experience in these next few months, I won't be ready to apply in spring. I will graduate in spring however and will have no professors from then on to reach out to. I thought these professors would for now be able to jot down some personal interactions they had with me as their primary sources of evidence (before they forget entirely). But if this isn't possible -if the CV is absolutely necessary to get started- they wouldn't have been strong letters anyway.

To be honest, I think you're overthinking this (as well as being too much of a perfectionist). Stop worrying about how perfect/fleshed out your CV looks right now-- that's something you need to worry about for your application, not for your recommendation letters. Especially since there's nothing you can do about it right now. As you've pointed out, this seems like your best chance to get academic letters while you're still fresh on their minds, so just get those letters since they've already agreed to it. Those professors are going to be writing about their experiences with you, not necessarily rehashing what's on your CV, so the ECs that you are hoping to add to it probably wont change how strong of a letter they write anyways. They mostly want it so they can mention/reference the other things you're involved with to make you sound better, but they're still going to be writing about their assessment of you as their student, which you don't need some perfect CV for. Who knows, maybe they'll reference that you were working throughout CC and how you also displayed that type of work ethic in their class(es). I'm sure they can spin whatever do you have on there to sound good.

Also, if you're so worried about it, when you email over your CV, just mention the things that you're planning/hoping to add in the future (just like you have here) and when you plan to start them.

 

[Ihave Nonamè]

To be honest, I think you're overthinking this (as well as being too much of a perfectionist). Stop worrying about how perfect/fleshed out your CV looks right now-- that's something you need to worry about for your application, not for your recommendation letters. Especially since there's nothing you can do about it right now. As you've pointed out, this seems like your best chance to get academic letters while you're still fresh on their minds, so just get those letters since they've already agreed to it. Those professors are going to be writing about their experiences with you, not necessarily rehashing what's on your CV, so the ECs that you are hoping to add to it probably wont change how strong of a letter they write anyways. They mostly want it so they can mention/reference the other things you're involved with to make you sound better, but they're still going to be writing about their assessment of you as their student, which you don't need some perfect CV for. Who knows, maybe they'll reference that you were working throughout CC and how you also displayed that type of work ethic in their class(es). I'm sure they can spin whatever do you have on there to sound good.

Also, if you're so worried about it, when you email over your CV, just mention the things that you're planning/hoping to add in the future (just like you have here) and when you plan to start them.

Well...one wrote they would "need the CV and PS to write a strong letter". I'm taking this to literally mean they will struggle in writing a strong letter if the CV and PS are lacking. They asked a second time just recently for the CV. I said I would prepare it and the PS, sent a resume in the meantime and also wrote a brief background about myself. I received no response to this. Honestly thinking of telling this one politely that I no longer need it from them. They may have a lesser impression of me now after this.

This despite me earning an A+ in the course, walking with the professor after class several times and telling me a couple times that my questions impressed them. I get the impression they don't remember me much after a year and are looking to lean on the docs.

The letters, lls and PS will all be important for me. I'm tasked with convincing adcoms that I am a far better student than I was in my past, that I immerse myself in the material and that I am driven. Professors can help accomplish this for me...

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

Well...one wrote they would "need the CV and PS to write a strong letter". I'm taking this to literally mean they will struggle in writing a strong letter if the CV and PS are lacking. They asked a second time just recently for the CV. I said I would prepare it and the PS, sent a resume in the meantime and also wrote a brief background about myself. I received no response to this. Honestly thinking of telling this one politely that I no longer need it from them. They may have a lesser impression of me now after this.

This despite me earning an A+ in the course, walking with the professor after class several times and telling me a couple times that my questions impressed them. I get the impression they don't remember me much after a year and are looking to lean on the docs.

The letters, lls and PS will all be important for me. I'm tasked with convincing adcoms that I am a far better student than I was in my past, that I immerse myself in the material and that I am driven. Professors can help accomplish this for me...

I was in similar shoes as you when I was applying a few years ago (Non-trad, poor UG grades that I needed to overcome with ECs and strong letters), so this is my opinion/advice:

You are being a perfectionist. You have to work with what you have, and if these are two professors that you have the strongest relationships with and would give you the strongest academic letters, then get letters from them now. You can always choose to not use them in the future. Again, they are just going to write about their experiences with you academically and want the CV and/or PS to get a more well-rounded view of you and/or to tie-in other experiences with what you've demonstrated in the classroom. Those are usually what "strong" letters do (because it gives the sense that the writer actually knows this student well, which may lend more credence to their recommendation), and is most likely what your professor meant.

So in this case, they just want to get a better picture of the person they're endorsing by seeing what else is going on in your life. Like I mentioned before, they can probably spin anything from your background (work history, hobby, etc. ) into a positive (such as being resilient, being motivated, etc.), so work with what you have, send them whatever is on your CV as is, and let them write it. Again, I think you're overthinking this (as well as over-analyzing that professor's comment).

Trust me, they won't have a lesser opinion of you based on your CV/PS. They might have a lesser opinion of you if you continue to be inconsiderate of their time, though. When someone has agreed to do you a favor/help you, it is inconsiderate/presumptuous to assume that they can/should do that favor on your preferred timeline (ie-when your CV is "better").

 

[candbgirl]

Trust me, they won't have a lesser opinion of you based on your CV/PS. They might have a lesser opinion of you if you continue to be inconsiderate of their time, though. When someone has agreed to do you a favor/help you, it is inconsiderate/presumptuous to assume that they can/should do that favor on your preferred timeline (ie-when your CV is "better").

This is the whole thing in a nutshell. Well said.

OP if you aren’t going to comply with requests for information, please let the professors know that you won’t be needing the letters at this point in your path to Medical School. Don’t leave them hanging but don’t cut them off entirely. You really might need those letters down the road.