Required Letters of Recommendation?

[matty675]

Hey guys,
I am new here at SDN and am having some LOR issues. I transferred to a university from community college this past fall. Many of my professors from cc are no longer going to remember me almost a year later. I have taken only 3 different chemistry/biology professors during my junior year here at the university. Both biology professors that I have had this year pretty much refused to write me a letter because they said they did not know me well enough, even though I had a strong A's in their classes and attended office hours several times. I guess this is for the best since I do want strong letters, but that pretty much eliminates the possibility of getting a biology faculty LOR. I am getting an LOR from my organic chemistry professor. It should be a pretty strong letter since I took her for both semesters of organic chemistry and often received among the highest if not the highest grades out of 200 people in the class. I also regularly attend her review sessions and she seems to know me quite well. I also have a letter from my cc Economics professor who I took for two semesters. I think he liked me a good bit, as he was absolutely thrilled to write the letter- it only took him about 3 days to submit it. I have a letter from a Dentist that I shadowed for about 100 hours. Finally, I have applied for a pre-health committee interview in order to get a committee letter. The committee only requires 2 LOR's from any faculty members/a dentist, so I won't have an issue satisfying their requirements.

Having said all of that, I am worried about not having the 2 science faculty LORs that most schools seem to require. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[matty675]

For anyone who is having the same problem:

I have emailed the admissions specialist of my two top choice schools (VCU and UNC), and both of them have said that a committee letter will satisfy all of their letter requirements, but must be accompanied by a letter from a practicing dentist. I am beginning to think that this is common practice among all dental schools. If anyone has anymore insight let me know.

 

[Glimmer1991]

To be safe, I would get one from a bio professor. That would just eliminate any potential problems you could have.

Many professors will write letters for students they don't know particularly well, provided you did well in their class and can provide them with a resume/personal statement. I'd e-mail a bio professor from the CC. It's better than no bio letter, in my opinion.

 

[matty675]

Thanks for the response.

Both upper level biology professors I have taken at the university will not write me a LOR. My only option for biology faculty would be my community college General BIO I/II instructor. I took the classes in spring 2012 and fall 2012, but I did have a really good grade in his class. Would a cc instructor be okay?

Another route I could take is to ask my upper level STAT instructor at my university to write me a LOR. I have never been to office hours, but I do sit in the very front row every day and ask questions pretty regularly. I have a solid A in that class as well. Of course this is not a bio professor, but it is an upper level university instructor.

What do you think?

 

[monstromyfishy]

Thanks for the response.

Both upper level biology professors I have taken at the university will not write me a LOR. My only option for biology faculty would be my community college General BIO I/II instructor. I took the classes in spring 2012 and fall 2012, but I did have a really good grade in his class. Would a cc instructor be okay?

Another route I could take is to ask my upper level STAT instructor at my university to write me a LOR. I have never been to office hours, but I do sit in the very front row every day and ask questions pretty regularly. I have a solid A in that class as well. Of course this is not a bio professor, but it is an upper level university instructor.

What do you think?

I had a similar problem this past cycle. I had graduated from my university and only managed to get one of my bio professors to write me a LOR. I was frantic looking for another professor. I ended up enrolling at my community college to take bio courses that weren't offered at my university. I got really lucky and the zoology prof at the CC had been a dentist for 20 years before he went back into zoology. He understood my predicament and agreed to write me a LOR after the first midterm. My application was not complete until mid-October because of this. I received 3 interviews - 1 acceptance and 2 wait-lists.

In short, an LOR from a CC prof will still meet the requirement though its generally preferred to get one from your undergraduate institution or a committee letter.