Recommendation Letter issues

[Ngozi Onyema]

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I contacted a PT I worked with back in the first week of September asking for a recommendation. He said ok no problem but I still have not received the recommendation from him. I asked him to do two because one is for PTCAS and another for a school not on PTCAS' list. I contacted him (through text) 3 other times after that first time but it wasn't in a time frame of me bothering him, it was a couple weeks in between each contact. I have yet to hear back from this PT since he said okay no problem to doing the PTCAS recommendation letter. Thing is application deadline for the non-PTCAS school is November (I think Novemember 1st). I have everything else the school needs except for the recommendation letter. FYI the first time I contacted him I did tell him no hurry and that as long as he got the PTCAS recommendation done before December I'd be okay ( I didn't want to make him feel bothered by the process) plus I really don't need it until December for PTCAS but for this non-PTCAS school I need it before November 1st I believe. Thankfully this non-PTCAS school allows it to be sent through email (spoke to the school on the phone and they said so). But the fact that the PT hasn't responded to my last 3 messages about it has me a little worried.

Is it wrong to contact through text? is that why? should I be calling him instead? I figured text is more convenient for him plus I'm able to leave the address of the school on it for him as opposed to him having to get a pen and writing it down. Also I've worked with him for 3 and a half years. He knows me very well. I no longer work with him. Haven't since 2010.

Another recommendation situation is that I am planning to get a recommendation letter from my current biology professor. I informed him on the first day of class that I'd be asking him for a recommendation letter and he told me okay and that he'd be paying attention to me in lab. So far my grades have been good. We had a quiz and an exam so far and on the quiz I got a 102% grade and on the exam I got an 88% grade. I try to answer questions he asks during lecture. I answered a couple lecture question he asked correctly (but he rarely asks questions during lecture, he mostly just lectures so I guess it means more that I attempted and also answered correctly.) But as he was passing out the graded tests, he looked at the name on my exam and did not know who I was despite the good grade. I do not converse with the professor. I just come to class do my work and leave. I do ask questions during lab when needed. I figure the recommendation letter will be based on my academic. I wonder if I am doing the right thing. But then again I do recall recently the professor asking me if he returned my test to me and when I told him yes, he said oh you're always here (commenting on my good attendance) in comparison to others as he had a bunch of graded tests from students because those students were absent. So he does acknowledge my good attendance record so far.

 

[okramango]

It sounds like it's definitely time to call that PT. He probably doesn't realize that you need one of the letters within 10 days, so you need to let him know that as soon as possible.

As for the professor, it could help to go to office hours so he can get to know you a little more. You can also give him a copy of your application essay or resume to help him get to know you more and write the letter.

 

[NewTestament]

Texting would be inappropriate in this case. Call him or approach him directly. Texting is not really professional, and is not used for urgent matters like this. He agreed to write the letter, so it's not rude to remind him 10 days before the deadline.

Like okramango said, arrange an appointment with the other professor so he knows your face, what your goals are, and what your accomplishments are. Keep asking questions in class, and be as good a student as you can. If you're a good student, but the professor doesn't know you, he can't write you an honest LOR.

Kevin

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

Thanks. The PT knows the deadline. I gave him all the information and told him I need it sent before November 3 times in the last couple of months. I'm just surprised that he hasn't even given me an okay on whether he's okay with doing it or not, not even to speak of doing it itself. You know just to say "okay no problem" like he did the first time with the PTCAS recommendation letter request. Truthfully I don't even know if it has been done. But I wanted to hear from him first if the letter was sent instead of calling the school and asking them if they've received the letter. But I guess I will do the latter (call the school to see if they've received the recommendation letter) tomorrow. Then I will call him if the letter has not been sent. I just didn't want to call the school asking them to look to see if they received a letter that I was never sure was sent in the first place. But I'll go that way and call the school and then I'll call the PT if the letter has not been sent to the school.

As far as the professor situation, thanks. I'll give him my application essay. But I think the professor's recommendation will probably based mostly on my attendance record, class participation, how well I work with my lab group partners and grades on the exams and quizzes so I think I'll make sure those 4 areas are good.

 

[qtran]

You have to be proactive with the PT LOR, what I did was I kept my recommenders up to date via email or texting about how I need it immediately for this and that school. I sent them the PTCAS LOR request for them to upload their letter and then email them consistently (every two days) asking them to check their email for PTCAS. Its better to be consistent so they make it a priority since they usually have other obligations. Once they confirm it is mailed or that you see on ptcas or school website that it is upoloaded then send them a thank you email immediately. Also, the PT shouldnt have to write two different LOR even though one is PTCAS and other is school. Pt should be able to use the same letter. Finally, I also went personally to my recommenders and gave them each a gift card and tell them how sorry I am for nagging them. You have to worry more about getting the LOR in on time and not about being annoying. As for the professor, if you do well in his class you should be fine. But you should also be cool with two professors throughout your undergrad so when the time comes you know they will not write you a half hearted lor.

 

[djb051]

As far as the professor situation, thanks. I'll give him my application essay. But I think the professor's recommendation will probably based mostly on my attendance record, class participation, how well I work with my lab group partners and grades on the exams and quizzes so I think I'll make sure those 4 areas are good.

A majority of applicants are most likely going to have the "attendance good, grades good" comment on their LOR from the professor they ask. If your professor gets to know you better, he can comment on things that go beyond that.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

Thanks. I called the school today to see if they've received the LOR from this one PT and they haven't. I called the PT but it went to voice mail so I left a message. I also sent him an email. But it's looking like I'm going to have to find someone else to do the LOR. This PT is not responding to me. It's going to be kind of tough. I don't have many people to go to for this LOR. Not people that have known me as long as that PT has. I'm going to see what I can do.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

Okay so I was able to obtain someone else (a speech therapist coworker) to write me a letter of recommendation for one school (the school that was not on PTCAS and had the November 1st deadline) but this PT that I have been talking about is still quiet and I have him on my PTCAS list. I called him, got his voice mail and left him a message a couple of weeks ago. He still hasn't responded. It's to the point that even if he does respond, I'm not sure I want him writing me a recommendation because I'm afraid the fact that he has not gotten back to me in over 2 months even though I have tried to contact him on numerous occasions tells me that he has a problem with me and probably won't write me a good recommendation. I had this same problem with a co-worker I worked with whom I kept in contact with and thought we were friends but issues arose between us and I decided to take her off of my recommendation list because I was afraid she would try to hurt me with it. I'm feeling the same way about this PT. I'm thinking I am just going to go to someone else. I have someone else available to write the LOR but she is not a PT, she's a Speech Therapist. But I already have a PT recommendation on my PTCAS list so I think I can use her. The weird thing is that last cycle I asked this same PT who is keeping quiet and he gave me a recommendation quickly with no problem. Now that I think about it maybe it was because of the fact that I never really thanked him properly (and someone just created a post on this website about how to thank those who write letters of recommendation). I didn't know. In fact that was the first time that I've ever had to get a letter of recommendation from anyone. I didn't really know the proper etiquette after receiving the LOR. I believe I thanked him but I just texted or emailed him a thank you and nothing else. Maybe that's why he's being so quiet. I don't know. I would have liked to have his LOR because he was my boss for 3 and a half years while I was working as a PTA. I don't know if I should try to contact him again after contacting him like 6 times within the last couple of months and getting no reply at all. I may just go to my other choice, the speech therapist. I still have one PT that has already given me a LOR on PTCAS and I have another PT besides the one I'm talking about on queue on PTCAS so it's looking like my PTCAS LOR list will look like 2 PTs, 1 coworker(speech therapist) and 1 professor. But even that other PT that I have on queue is keeping quiet with me. I will continue to contact her. If it's this difficult to get LORs to one place (PTCAS) I can't imagine how difficult it would be if I had to have them send LORs to different places (non-PTCAS schools).

 

[qtran]

Good luck to you. Just a heads up, a majority of pt programs only require 1 lor from a pt. In my case, I got 1pt,2professors,and 1 coworker. it did prevent me from applying to a couple of schools BUT I was positive the lors were going to be top quality.

 

[kptnau]

The biggest problem I had was that the emails weren't getting sent to the right places very well. PTCAS realy did a bad job of that. They said they had sent them a few times but in reality they had not. When they finally got sent I got all my LOR's done within 10 minutes of each other because the writers were all waiting. I was nervous for like 2 months waiting as well.

Call PTCAS and resend the invitations. They aren't perfect.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

The PT isn't even responding to my phone calls to say anything at all. Anyway I already have two PTs who've given me LOR so I'm going to not use this PT who's being quiet.

My issue now is that the Biology professor that I am thinking of using says that he will not be able to write me a LOR until after the finals which is in mid to late December. I'm thinking that might be too late for some schools.

I also have the choice to ask a coworker of mine (who's already done a LOR for me for a non-PTCAS school) to be my fourth PTCAS LOR recipient or to ask my capstone course professor for my undergraduate major (which was Communication Studies not a science major). I've had this professor for 2 semesters of different courses. I believe she knows me well enough to be okay with doing a LOR for me (especially since in the Capstone course one of the graded assignments was our resume and cover letter and a paper on our future endeavors) but she is not a professor of a science course/major (which some schools ask for) but she was a professor of one of the most important courses of my undergraduate major (Communication Studies). I'm thinking that I should try to get the fourth LOR from her instead of the co-worker especially since the Biology professor LOR may be too late for some schools. So I'd have 2 PTs and 2 professors LOR. The thing about the coworker LOR is that I'm pretty sure I can receive it immediately especially since she has already just done one for me for the non-PTCAS school but I'm not so sure how quickly I can get it from this Communication Professor. What do you think I should do? Should I get the LOR from the coworker or should I get the LOR from the Communication Professor?

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

So I'm thinking I'm going to get the fourth recommendation letter from the Communication Professor instead of the cowoker. This will mean I'll have LORs from 2 PTs (one of which was a coworker anyway) and 2 professors (although the science/biology professor will not be able to get the LOR to me until late December, which I am a little scared is kind of late for some schools so I figure it's better to have a professor LOR even though it's from a non-science professor for now than not have one until late December). Some schools don't require it to be a science professor but they do require a professor LOR.

As far as going about asking this Communication Professor I was going to email her but would it be better to ask her in person during her office hours? I'm sure it would be better for her to see me in person so that she could remember me better even though I don't think she forgot who I am as I had her for the last 2 semesters before I graduated just this past summer and even saw her during graduation but maybe it's still proper etiquette to ask her in person right?

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

I'm having a little trouble with this science professor LOR. He doesn't really seem interested in giving me a LOR. I'm not sure if it's because he's very busy or if it's because he needs more time to get to know me. Today was the last day of the semester. I spoke to him a few times about the LOR during the semester. Once in the beginning, twice in the middle of the semester and once at the end. I gave the professor my PTCAS essay several weeks ago but he never really found time to read it. I tried to tell him my story but only some of it sticks as I have to repeat the story on other days when I approach him about the LOR. He seems extremely overwhelmed by grading school work, he mentions how it takes a lot of his time. He's now grading our final and finishing up the last exame we took and he teaches other sections plus at another school. I kind of feel like I'm begging him to do the LOR. I mentioned that if he felt that he doesn't feel right doing one for me it's okay. So far I only know for sure that I am averaging a B+ in the class but I'm still waiting on the grades from the last exam and the final and I'm not confident I maintain that B+. If my grades aren't great I can see how that would make it hard for him to do a recommendation for me. He asked us to email him by Thursday he should have the grades for the last exam before the final done. I think whether I follow up with putting him on my list of LORs depends on how I did on that last exam. So I'll wait until I get the grades back from him. But at the same time it seems really late already. On PTCAS I have LORs from 1 professor (Communication Major), and 2 PTs. It's just that some schools want that science professor and the only science course I've taken besides this one I just completed today was Chemistry and Physics which I took at another school almost 2 years ago and there's issues with those professors even though i did good in the courses. I might be really stuck with this science professor LOR requirement. I think this current biology professor is my only option and I told him that.

 

[Ngozi Onyema]

Is getting 3 recommendations from the same person too much? For some reason this person that I am trying to get a recommendation from who has done LORs for two different schools already isn't answering my calls or returning my messages about this third LOR. Maybe it's just that there's a deadline coming up that has me panicking and impatient. The person may be unable to answer the phone or return my messages for some reason. The person lives out of state from me. I tried to thank her as much as I can over the phone. I've told her how much the last two recommendations meant and that it means a lot to me that she did them. Since she did the LOR already for me I thought that she'd have no problem just doing another one because she could just copy the other one except edit where needed. Is she really too busy to at least say that she's too busy or have I asked for too much from her? What can I do to make her understand that this is urgent but at the same time not seem like a jerk calling her several times a day?

Is it me or is it tough to get LORs? Maybe it's me.

One professor that I got LORs from had no problem doing them 3 different times.

Edit: Okay she got the message and just sent the recommendation letter. Whew!