Where should you ask your professors to send a LOR?

[753698]

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Currently a sophomore and won't be applying till next year but I still want to ask for LOR's now since I did really well in my core science classes. Since I don't have an application ready, is there anywhere I should ask my professors to send my letter so it can be stored for future use?

And also, how did you guys ask your professor for a LOR over email? And did you guys also set up a time to meet so they can get to know you better? If so how did you guys do that?

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

I know people who asked and had their profs write the letters their sophomore year. I personally plan to ask the spring of my junior year.

 

[753698]

I know people who asked and had their profs write the letters their sophomore year. I personally plan to ask the spring of my junior year.

Do you know where they asked their professors to send the letter? Obviously they can't send it to your email or anything right? Since it's supposed to be confidential I'm assuming.

 

[Cthuluhoop]

Your undergrad might have a service where they store letters of recommendation. If not, check out Interfolio, their services provides confidentiality so it ensure you do not see the letter and I had friends who used it.
Do NOT look at the letter, it completely ruins the credibility of the letter if the dental schools think you saw the letter and it wasn't stored securely.

For the traditional science professor LoR, I did the difficult thing and asked over email because I had already graduated. Be proactive, you need to build a relationship with a professor you want an LoR from. Go to office hours with them on a regular basis, don't be an a** kisser, but show genuine interest in their class and work. Once you feel comfortable ask for the letter.

You should have asked in person already, but if you're still at the school I would try to find their office hours for this coming Spring semester and drop in or email to schedule at time to ask in person, it's much harder for them to say no to your face. They may ask for more information such as your personal statement, transcripts and resumé or to meet to discuss the goal of the letter.

 

[753698]

Your undergrad might have a service where they store letters of recommendation. If not, check out Interfolio, their services provides confidentiality so it ensure you do not see the letter and I had friends who used it.
Do NOT look at the letter, it completely ruins the credibility of the letter if the dental schools think you saw the letter and it wasn't stored securely.

For the traditional science professor LoR, I did the difficult thing and asked over email because I had already graduated. Be proactive, you need to build a relationship with a professor you want an LoR from. Go to office hours with them on a regular basis, don't be an a** kisser, but show genuine interest in their class and work. Once you feel comfortable ask for the letter.

You should have asked in person already, but if you're still at the school I would try to find their office hours for this coming Spring semester and drop in or email to schedule at time to ask in person, it's much harder for them to say no to your face. They may ask for more information such as your personal statement, transcripts and resumé or to meet to discuss the goal of the letter.

Unfortunately I'm already done with the class and I didn't really go to office hours (it was orgo and I'm guessing office hours would have been overly crowded anyways since my school is really big and the class size was 400+ in my estimate just for one section)
BUT the good thing is that our professor knowing the class size is very big offered to write anyone a letter as long as they got an A or above in the class, and to know more about our traits she will be getting info from our discussion TA's. I will also see if I can meet with the professor in person, give her my personal statement etc. so that the professor has more to write about, but I definitely can't let this opportunity slip because I feel like I really differentiated myself from other students in this class.

But thanks for the info, I'll check to see if my University stores letters, if not I'll check Interfolio.

I have actually never once gone to office hours before, I just get anxiety about going. Plus I haven't really needed to based on classwork. I definitely will make an attempt to go to office hours in the future though, especially in biology because I'll actually have talking points. For Orgo I never really needed help, and I didn't really have anything to talk about either because I don't have much background knowledge on orgo or it's real life applications/research. Biology is much easier to talk about in general I would say.

 

[Cthuluhoop]

That is a great favor your orgo professor did. Just make sure you follow-up with her very early on in the Spring semester so your TA doesn't forget about you and you have the agreement that your professor will write one. Since your professor made that distinction that if you get an A you get a letter, you probably would be fine emailing her to set it up, but I would put in the email you're open to meeting in person to provide further information and see what she says.

I am exactly like you haha I never really had a need for office hours either, and my large science classes were just too big and filled with the kids who went every day like it was their religion. I never felt like I had real questions I couldn't find on my own. I only went to office hours in my immunology class because no-one ever went, and I did have some material questions that were difficult to find answers to online.
But when you apply it is easier and more confidence inspiring to have a professor that you know will write you a solid letter, so try to go to office hours for at least one more class, even if you only go a handful of times but do well in the class. It makes the impression that you tried and were interested in the material