Recommendation Letters

[lalettan]

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Hey guys,

So I graduated college 1.5 ago, and was just not ready to reenter academia till now! I want to apply to MPH programs in the next cycle BUT... recommendation letters scare me!

I wasn't particularly memorable in any class. I had a bunch of personal/family issues in college so while I was a decent student, I was never the one to go up and talk to anyone after class/make use of office hours! I feel like I probably exhausted my usual 3 professors because I already asked them for letters for a fellowship I applied to last year. I haven't maintained contact with any of them.

Has anyone been in a similar situation before? How do you think it's best handled?

I was thinking I could email them this semester and see if I can go up to campus to visit during office hours. But the thought is seriously making me anxious. I wouldn't even know what to say.

 

[jash14]

I didn't ask any professors for LORs for similar reasons. I was at a gigantic school and ended up switching advisors 3 months before I left because my first one didn't know who I was. I'm 3 years out from graduation so I've been working and volunteering for the last few years; I asked bosses and supervisors to write mine for me.
It sounds like you have professors you can ask, don't feel like you've "exhausted" them because you've asked before- it's part of their job. I don't know if you've had any bosses since graduating, but I don't think schools actually mind that much who the rec is from (in terms of boss v professor), as long as it speaks to your abilities that would be useful for public health. I would definitely follow up with the professors you got to do it before, they probably have the old letter on file still so they can spruce it up pretty easily.

I hope this is helpful! Good luck!

 

[CaliThugLife]

They do mind if they are from bosses vs professors. The only time they wouldn't mind is for a person that has been out of a school for many many many years. 1.5 doesn't seem so long ago vs 5.
Yes, use the same professors. It's their job to write letters of Rec. however, make sure they can write you an excellent letter of recommendation, just ask if they can write you an EXCELLENT letter.

 

[Pudu2009]

I didn't get any letters from my professors either. I asked one of them five weeks before my Davis app was due, but they lost my transcript, so to this day I don't know if she wrote the letter or not (she may have and they lost it). Anyway, I decided not to ask her again for my SOPHAS app and choose three supervisors, two from an internship and one from Rotary International UCI branch. It wasn't an issue for me because I was applying to schools that weren't particular about where letters came from as long as they were not personal (no parents, friends, etc). If you do go this route be careful when choosing schools as many of them want one or two academic references.

 

[totesk]

I put off applying to grad school for years because I was afraid of asking for rec letters.

I ended up asking a professor I had for one class outside of my major (who really liked me, but still), and two supervisors at a position I'd only worked at for a month or so at the time. Evidently, it worked out fine. Don't stress!

 

[Stories]

I put off applying to grad school for years because I was afraid of asking for rec letters.

I ended up asking a professor I had for one class outside of my major (who really liked me, but still), and two supervisors at a position I'd only worked at for a month or so at the time. Evidently, it worked out fine. Don't stress!

Agreed with this statement!

 

[themmases]

You can ask your bosses if your job is relevant, although only 1.5 years out many schools will want you to have at least 1 or 2 professors as recommenders. Generally when I was applying schools wanted at least one professor unless you were 5 or more years out from your undergrad degree.

You won't exhaust your recommenders. This is part of their job and if you feel close enough to them to ask them once, they realize you may ask again. Smart ones will have saved your old letter and may even be able to adapt it to reflect your accomplishments since then and what your current schools are looking for. At a minimum, they'll have something to jog their memory.

If you're interested in using a boss, ask your schools what they think. They will tell you what they think is acceptable and then you can just do what they say. I was 4 years out from an irrelevant degree (history) but had been working in medical research, so I got all MDs to write mine and it worked fine.

 

[ec_lc1114]

Do not worry too much about this. I was really afraid of asking a professor for a recommendation because I also wasn't very memorable and it had been nearly 5 years, but I went for it, reminded him which classes of his I had taken, and scanned a copy of an old essay I wrote with his notes and the A grade on it. He agreed to write the recommendation and did it on time and it was no big deal. I almost considered not going to graduate school because of this and am so glad I didn't persist in that line of thinking.