professor letter of recs.

[aznpharmgurl10]

I was wondering what subjects of professors did you ask to write your letter of recommendation. Because I am applying this summer, I don't think that it would be smart for me to ask an organic chem professor who I haven't had yet. I've only taken 2 science courses: general chemistry and intro biology. Are those two teachers good enough for a recommendation letter to pharmacy school?

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[RUN DMV]

I was wondering what subjects of professors did you ask to write your letter of recommendation. Because I am applying this summer, I don't think that it would be smart for me to ask an organic chem professor who I haven't had yet. I've only taken 2 science courses: general chemistry and intro biology. Are those two teachers good enough for a recommendation letter to pharmacy school?

If they can write a good letter of recommednation for you, then yeah.

My letters of recommendation came from my General Chem professor, General Bio and my co-op supervisor at Cognis Corporation. I think you need to kiss up to your professors to write a good letter of recommendation and the best way to do it is to show interest in their research. Regardless of who you get the letter from, they have to say more than "so and so got this grade in my class." They have to be your biggest advocate to get into pharmacy school.

 

[TrojanAnteater]

I got a letter from my General Chem and Inorganic Chem professor who was also an associate dean of physical sciences. I didn't really get to know any of my other professors mostly because any questions I would have I used the TA's for because they were more accessible. But thankfully the guy I got the letter from remembered me from his Gen. Chem class (out of 400 students, and only because one time I had to come in his office to notify him he left me off the midterm seating chart) when I was in his Inorganic class- and then through that class I spent more time in his office. It also helped that he signs all the deans list notificatins so he would always see my name through there.

Most people (at least at UCI, I dont know about other places) get their letters from the professor they do research with, but I never had time to do research so I couldn't do that.

 

[jammocah]

You dont have to know your professors that well to ask for a letter of rec. It certainly helps but it's not a requirement. If you only have two to draw from, I'm sure those two will be fine. Unless the school specifies a science professor, I am sure professors in other fields will be ok too!

What I do recommend, however, is when you ask, that you make it the easiest possible for them to write it and make it possible for them to get to know you either through a face-to-face meeting discussing your reasons for wanting to go to pharm schools or including your personal statement and resume so that they will have something to draw on other than what you got in their class. Goodluck!

p.s. you've only taken two science classes and you're already applying to pharm schooL?? You're going to finish all your science pre-reqs in one year?? goodluck to that too!

 

[fub5623]

You dont have to know your professors that well to ask for a letter of rec. It certainly helps but it's not a requirement. If you only have two to draw from, I'm sure those two will be fine. Unless the school specifies a science professor, I am sure professors in other fields will be ok too!
What I do recommend, however, is when you ask, that you make it the easiest possible for them to write it and make it possible for them to get to know you either through a face-to-face meeting discussing your reasons for wanting to go to pharm schools or including your personal statement and resume so that they will have something to draw on other than what you got in their class. Goodluck!

p.s. you've only taken two science classes and you're already applying to pharm schooL?? You're going to finish all your science pre-reqs in one year?? goodluck to that too!

Anyway, has anybody gotten accepted to any pharmacy schools with lor written by non-science professors, cause i was thinking for my french teacher to write one for me since, i've had the same teacher for 3 semesters and our class size was 15, compared to our science classes which had 546654546 students therefore i doubt my science teacher even knows my name :/

 

[endlesslove]

Anyway, has anybody gotten accepted to any pharmacy schools with lor written by non-science professors, cause i was thinking for my french teacher to write one for me since, i've had the same teacher for 3 semesters and our class size was 15, compared to our science classes which had 546654546 students therefore i doubt my science teacher even knows my name :/

I did; but then again I also had another LOR from a science professor as part of the 3 LOR requirement.

 

[DHG]

Every school has different requirements for LORs. Some, in fact, only allow 1 to be from a science prof. Some don't care who they come from as long as they get the the number of letters they ask for. Spme require 1from science, 1 from outside of school, .... Just check each school individually as all the required LORs vary from one school to the next.

 

[aubieRx]

O chem lab instructor (actual doctor in chemistry)

Biochem professor

microbiology professor

I felt like i knew the lab instructor better than I got to know most teachers.

 

[twester]

I'm asking my most favorite prof (Principles of Chemistry - from when I was a pre-nursing student and my Gen Chem lab instructor last semester) who told me that he loved grading my "perfect lab reports".

I may ask my A&P professor since she spent a ton of extra time with me and my lab partners. She seemed to appreciate our dedication and really got into the Q&A sessions we would have after everyone else tore out of lab.

The bottom line is to ask people who have reacted positively to you academically. And who have gotten to know you somewhat personally.

Good luck!
Troy

 

[PharmD4Me]

I knew the professors that wrote my reccommendations some what because I sat in the front row and occasionaly saw them outside of class. However, so they could make the letter more personable, I wrote a personal statement for them. I included my activities, classes, career plans, hobbies, home life, ect. I kept it kind of informal, but made sure it was well organized and thought out. I think it really helped them write it and it showed them that I made an effort.

If I were you, I would have atleast 1 professor of a science class write a letter. Your current employer would also be a good choice

 

[crazyrice610]

i had one from a organic lab professor ... i had 2 lab courses with him but he doesn't know too much about me other than my name and i've been in 2 of his labs. but he was nice enough to have an hour long meeting with me prior to writing my LOR. I made a good impression of myself during that meeting (it was actually kinda like a pharmacy school interview, to be honest)... and ended up he wrote a really really good LOR. he actually gave me a copy of my LOR (in addition the ones he sealed for me)

my second onwas from my Ochem prof that i took the last quarter of ochem with and whom i also TA-ed for the same course the second yr he taught it. that LOR (in my opinion) was alright.. fair.. not too bad but not extraordinary. and worst of all, he forgot to sign them and forgot to seal them too! so that's why i got to read it. so it was useless, cuz he gave it back three days before deadline!

those were my 2 LORs from profs

 

[rougemarie]

I'm a "non-traditional" student, if you will, I've been out of school for a while and just went back to finish my pre-requisites. I found it very hard to maintain contact with profs. since here at UTDallas, they teach each class with 2 profs, changing in the middle of the class. So, if I took 3 different classes, that's 6 different profs. that I got to see only 2 months at a time, each!!

I'm still very divided on whether I should submit a recommendation from Prof. I asked the profs in a class that I did particularly well (got an A+), but then again, I only saw each one of them for about 2 months or so (and you can only go to office hours so many times ) I suspect this may be very impersonal letters (she did well, she can study blablabla..).

Which comes to my next question, if I may: should I include them anyway? I plan to include letters from my past employers, volunteer coordinator and other ppl. who have been working with me extensively for the past 2-3 years. But yet, there's no limit on the # of letter of recommendations that you can submit, I think (most schools said *at least* 2-3 letters). Any opnion on this? thanks in advance for your input

 

[PharmD4Me]

I plan to include letters from my past employers, volunteer coordinator and other ppl. who have been working with me extensively for the past 2-3 years. But yet, there's no limit on the # of letter of recommendations that you can submit, I think (most schools said *at least* 2-3 letters). Any opnion on this? thanks in advance for your input

I would double check the "atleast"; every school I applied to said no more than 2 or 3 LoR (depending on the school). Some even made a point to say that only the first 2-3 letters will be accepted so do not send more.

I would send atleast 1 from a professor, imho. The point of LoR is to get a better idea of who you are as a person. Seeings how you are going to be going to their school for the next 4 years, they probably would like to know what you are like in the classroom. I would think then an employer would also be good for the second because they want to accept people that are going to make good pharmacists, and a LoR by an employer will give them an idea of your work ethic. Again, just my opinion.

 

[aubieRx]

I also had a meeting with one of the professors who wrote me a letter and I think it was somewhat helpful.

I have found that professors are , as a general rule, really cool, laidback, intelligent people and that most of them really care about their students. I have not had one professor I really hated like I used to hate some of the HS teachers.

 

[rougemarie]

I would double check the "atleast"; every school I applied to said no more than 2 or 3 LoR (depending on the school). Some even made a point to say that only the first 2-3 letters will be accepted so do not send more.

Good idea, PharmD4Me. I know at least two schools I'm interested in said "at least" on their website, but I agree w/ you, I think more than 3 is just too much or they may even start questioning my judgement of picking people to give me LOR

 

[SomeGuy]

I found it very hard to maintain contact with profs. since here at UTDallas, they teach each class with 2 profs, changing in the middle of the class. So, if I took 3 different classes, that's 6 different profs. that I got to see only 2 months at a time, each!!

I wonder, in a situation like this, could it be acceptable to have a "joint" letter of recommendation written by both professors?

 

[endlesslove]

I wonder, in a situation like this, could it be acceptable to have a "joint" letter of recommendation written by both professors?

No, I've asked before and the answer was it was not recommended. At any rate, some schools in CA told me they do not mind if you send them 1 more than the required (using common sense, no more than 3 is good) and that's what I did.

 

[DrEaMeRcHiCk]

I was wondering, how many of you actually got to see the LOR from you science prof? I'm curious because both my general chem and organic chem professors say they will not release a copy of the LOR to the student and that if the student sees it, they will have it void. Just curious

 

[rougemarie]

I wonder, in a situation like this, could it be acceptable to have a "joint" letter of recommendation written by both professors?

I can imagine that it would be a good idea