Older applicant: Difficult asking for a LOR

[Theta1]

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I graduated with a B.A. in Biology two years ago and was accepted into pharmacy school, but decided not to attend. Long story short, I only chose pharmacy for various practical reasons, but after working as a pharm tech at a retail pharmacy, I realized at the last minute that it wasn't worth it and realized that I should have stuck to my initial career choice, which was dentistry. I took the DAT already and did really well and my GPA from undergrad is around a 3.8.

Problem: I did well in my classes, but didn't really get to know my professors and they probably wouldn't even remember who I am if I were to contact them. I used various work references for pharmacy school, but most dentistry schools seem to require a minimum of 2 science professors. I'm sure one of them will go ahead and write me one if I gave them a resume/personal statment, but I figure they would probably write a pretty cruddy recommendation or a mediocre/generic one at best.

Did any of you guys have difficulty getting a LOR from professors?

 

[blankguy]

Try contacting them to see if they know you. You may not know them well but there is a chance that they may know you better than you think if you interacted with them especially if you attended their office hours. At worst you may have to delay for an extra year taking upper level Biology courses getting to know the instructors.

 

[mss255]

I would recommend talking to your undergrad's pre-professional committee. This also might just be called a pre-med committee. If your school has one, I imagine they'll be helpful as they've probably had similar circumstances in the past.

 

[tinman831]

Even with a prehealth committee, you'll probably need LOR's. Most of the time, professors probably wont know who the people they're writing LOR's for. There's just too many students to keep track of, (unless you're a good professor who actually makes an effort). Bring them your transcripts, resumes, CV's, anything to help better personalize your LOR. If they want, offer to sit down with them to discuss your plans for the future.

 

[ought2sleep]

I would contact the professor, ask them very politely, and explain that you would love to meet with them etc. Most professors will be willing to help you out provided you give them plenty of time and help them through it. Give them your personal statement, copy of unofficial transcripts, and your resume. Also, make sure you ask if they would be willing to write you a POSITIVE letter of recommendation, this way, if they really aren't into it, they will say so instead of agreeing and giving you something mediocre.

 

[SMCohen]

I had a similar problem - my university is pretty big, with over 50,000 full-time students, so getting to know your profs is very difficult. I contacted a few whom I had taken a class from, reminded them of my grade in their class, and asked if I could meet up with them for the purpose of getting a recommendation letter. One prof said she didn't feel comfortable doing it since she didn't know me personally, and another said 'ok' but told me what he could say in the letter would be limited to what my grade was in his class.

So, my academic letters were not stellar, but for some schools, it fulfilled the requirement at the very least 😛

 

[curiosteph]

Hey ~

I was in a similar situation. I have been out for 2.5 years and had to ask for recs. I had one professor write me one, and then the other three were work & community service recommendations. I got five interviews and no questions asked about not having the right recs. I think that if you've been out of school for a bit, having academic recs is not as important. Just my two cents.

 

[ChoDog]

Truthfully, I don't think letter's are that important unless you are a borderline student and have a strong, personal letter. I'm sure most professors whether they remember you or not, will write you one as long as you provide a personal statement and resume.

 

[burgler09]

With a GPA like that you can have a broad LOR and not have to worry. If you do good on the DAT and write good letters, then hell you don't need much at all. Just go to your old university say hi to and old professor whether they know you much or not, they'll be able to write up a LOR for ya.

 

[Chuda2008]

I was in the exact same boat. Two days ago I went to my old university and asked two different professors for letters from classes that I had taken in 2004. I had never attended office hours and the class sizes where 200+ students. They had no idea who I was. I brought my personal statement, CV, and a letter outline who I was, when and how well I had done in their class, why dentistry, interests and hobbies, DAT scores and GPA. I was surprised because both professors immediately said they would be happy to write one and did not seem to care that they had no idea who I was. I think that in a large school they know that they are required to write letters for people that they don’t really know. I was very nervous about asked for the letters, but figured the worst thing they could say is no. Also, I had three other backup professors to ask, but the first two said yes. In a side note, check to see if your school has a pre-dental committee; because they can at least hold the confidential letters so that if you have to apply a second time, you can just get the letters from them instead of having the professor write a new one.

Hope this helps and good luck getting them, because some schools do require that you have X number of basic science letter before they will offer you an interview.