When to ask an OT for a reference letter?

[tub54228]

After how many hours should you ask an OT for a reference letter? Right now I am observing at a place where there are about 8 OT's working in the same room and you kind of just observe whoever has a patient at the time. I have observed for about 13 hours here. I don't feel like any ONE OT has gotten to know me very well. When I'm there I watch what they are doing, interact with the patients, I'm friendly, ask questions occasionally. The guy who allowed me to observe there would probably be the one to write the letter. He's very nice but idk if I would be asking too much of him.

I am currently setting up another set of observation hours at a location where I would go once a week, probably 4-5 hours a day. That is when the OT said she is available.

So when is the right time to ask for a letter?

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[beestrng]

I just told the dude yo man who gonna sign this? He looked around and just checked off whatever and signed it. After 15 mins I bounced.

The other snf place I was at made it more complicated because they went all out with a hand written letter. I didnt even know the lady who signed it.

 

[beestrng]

Never leave without the LOR though. Bring all your lors with you and preplan this. I only had 3 non otcas references so it was much easier. My friend was playing tag for 2 months because the OT he was following was PRN and did not have a consistent schedule.

 

[RedHeadOT]

I suggest you ask one of the OTs if they are willing now and then try to spend some more time shadowing the OT who agrees so that they can get to know you better. I know for me it took a long time to get my letter written and I was freaking out. So, I would say the earlier the better.

 

[tub54228]

I sent the OT an email thanking him for allowing me to observe there, said it was a great experience, everybody was really nice and he emailed me back saying...

"you are very welcome. Good luck on your journey of becoming an OT and let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

Is that an open invitation to ask him for a LOR?? What do you think??

 

[Kidamnesiac]

In my experience in other areas of academia, people are much more willing to write for you than you would suspect. I am being upfront with every OT observation to see if they'll do it. Afterwards, I'm going to ask the one that I think will help the most. It feels dirty, but everyone had to do it, and I think that people realize that.

 

[beestrng]

I think you are thinking too much into it.

I told my guys from the get go I needed a LOR.

 

[tub54228]

haha yeah probably but I just don't want to get turned down. I am just wondering if it is ok to ask him when I've only observed there for three five hour days.

 

[dadayosang]

that right,the OT he was following was PRN and did not have a consistent schedule. thanks

 

[beestrng]

Yes most lor forms have the number of hours that you did. The ot will just comment along the lines that you were competent in so and so but he or she did not have enough time to evaluate you in certain areas. The OT's lor may just be generic too...

 

[OTtoB]

After how many hours should you ask an OT for a reference letter? Right now I am observing at a place where there are about 8 OT's working in the same room and you kind of just observe whoever has a patient at the time. I have observed for about 13 hours here. I don't feel like any ONE OT has gotten to know me very well. When I'm there I watch what they are doing, interact with the patients, I'm friendly, ask questions occasionally. The guy who allowed me to observe there would probably be the one to write the letter. He's very nice but idk if I would be asking too much of him.

I am currently setting up another set of observation hours at a location where I would go once a week, probably 4-5 hours a day. That is when the OT said she is available.

So when is the right time to ask for a letter?

When you acquire a letter of recommendation, you want to do so conscientiously, since letters of recommendation are a very important admissions criteria. Letters of recommendation tell the admissions committees what you are like from the perspective of a professional. A letter of recommendation that does not provide favorable information may be at worst, a kiss of death.

Acquiring a good letter of recommendation is no easy task. You will want to make sure that the referee has many years of experience in their field and knows how to write a letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation that I received was from an OT that had over 32 years of experience. She supervised me for over 100 hours when I volunteered and worked as an OT technician. Early on, she offered to write me a letter with much enthusiasm, which was great. I would have asked her eventually, but after working with her for a while and establishing great rapport. I would go with Beestrng however, in giving a heads up early on that you need an LOR (when acquiring one from an OT). You don't want to waste your time with someone that will "damn with faint praise" or hesitate to write the LOR for whatever reason.

Professionals with years of relevant experience, tenure (e.g., full time professor, department head, master clinician), professionals that know you, like you and your positive qualities and can attest to your abilities, make excellent and creditable sources of information for the admissions committees. Anyone else may degrade the quality of your application.

I received interview invites from my top 3 schools, so I assume that I made good choices with my LORs.