Voiced Concerns and Advice Needed for LORs

[duediligence]

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So a little bit about me. I graduated Summer 2012 from University of California, Riverside with a B.S. in Biology. My first two years I had awful grades and was debating to switch to another major, but stuck through and the last two years worked my tail off to an upward trend, finished with a cumulative 3.0 GPA. Nothing great, but it was nice for me to end school on a good note. After graduating I spent some time figuring out what I wanted to do, and after some shadowing of different healthcare professions as well as research, I've set my mind on becoming a physician. I took the MCAT a couple months ago and got a 31 V8 B11 P12, but my pressing issue has been letters of recommendation. I know I have to improve my GPA also, which was a reason I thought to look at postbac programs, but many of them also require letters of rec, and unfortunately I was a dolt in undergrad and didnt really make many relationships with professors. After emailing and calling to no avail, I think it might be time to just travel to my school and engage the professors directly. It's a problematic situation, and any advice on what to do from people in the same position would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[Toadesque]

I also graduated from UCR, and even with professors that I got to know quite well and did well in their classes they don't respond to my emails always regarding LoRs. It really sucks but I think we just have to go in and talk to them. It's like no one wants to do ANYTHING for anyone else over the phone or email these days

 

[duediligence]

I also graduated from UCR, and even with professors that I got to know quite well and did well in their classes they don't respond to my emails always regarding LoRs. It really sucks but I think we just have to go in and talk to them. It's like no one wants to do ANYTHING for anyone else over the phone or email these days

Yeah, and I really made a mistake not going immediately after I graduated. It's been a year now, and while it's better than say, going even later, it's worth a try. I understand LORs being important, and I take the blame for not taking the intiative earlier, but I don't know what to do if it doesn't pan out. There have to be other options, right?

 

[erure]

I'm pretty much in the exact same position except I went to a different school and I graduated earlier, so even worse chance of anyone remembering me. I tried emailing professors and only one responded and I didn't qualify to even ask him for an LOR (he only writes for kids who took at least 2 classes with him and got a solid A, won't take A-). So I'm taking some classes at community college and hopefully I can get letters from some of the professors here. I'm also going to try calling up professors' offices directly. It can't hurt, right?

 

[RegisBioMedMS]

I think the best bet is indeed showing up in person (maybe offer a walk for a cup of coffee, if they seem up for it) then take the opportunity to explain your path and your passion. This will give you the most possibility for a letter of reference that will at least cover your bases for your post-bac admissions. Tell the professor you will use interfolio or another letter service, so the letter writer knows they won't have to rewrite and resend... this is a one time request. Also, be sure to give them enough time and information to write a decent letter, at least a month lead time is good.

Then, do invest the effort to get to know your post-bac professors well. You will need their strong positive voice in your LOR pile to compensate for/contrast the blahish letter that you may receive from your undergrad professor.

I've seen this happen many times, don't worry, although they expect an undergrad letter from an instructor, the post-bac admissions committees are used to this scenario. You wouldn't be applying for post-bac programs if you didn't have some sort of hole in your background. Just be sure you explain your GPA issues succinctly in your application essay and let them know how motivated you are now NOT to have this happen again.

Another scenario that MIGHT work, depending on the post bac, is to contact your TA and have them write and sign the letter, and then have it co-signed by the professor. Contact the post-bacs individually to make sure this works for them. Some professors just don't want to write the letter, especially if they didn't know the student well, but they don't mind signing one that is already done by someone they trust.

-Wow, Erure, your professor's 2xA only policy is amazingly tough. Please, don't assume that this is the norm and get discouraged. Most professors and instructors are not this way. Keep looking.