Letters of Recommendation after Long Absence

[ajacot924]

Hey Everyone,

I am about to graduate from a masters program in May. I plan to take five years off from academia to gain work experience and then hope to enter a Ph.D. program in my field.

My question is, since it will be 4 years between the end of my masters and my application for a doctoral program, how do I maintain relationships with my current professors for letters of recommendation? Do I mention it now? Do I email them periodically to check in? That feels weird, since I will be doing just for a future recommendation.

Thanks for the advice!

[victorydance]

Perhaps talk to them right now about your plan? Asking them to write an extensive template LOR for you at the moment and put it on file for a later date. 

[JD2017]

use InterFolio

[TakeruK]

I agree with the advice to bring this up now so that they know to expect you to ask for a letter in the future! As HopefulComparativist said, they might choose to write up a skeleton of a letter and/or notes about you now so they can remember you for a letter 4-5 years later!

[themmases]

In some fields, a person who has been out of school for 5 years can submit all professional references if they're relevant. I did that on my applications after being out 4 years, and it worked out fine-- with the caveat that not only was my work relevant, my undergrad degree was irrelevant.

 

You should look at the admissions requirements for the types of programs you'll be interested in, and see what they want. If programs in your field will want academic references even from 5-year-old relationships, then you should use a service like InterFolio or a similar offering from your school to just get a recommendation now.

 

If you want to keep in touch with your professors, I recommend keeping them up to date on your career progress. One of my professors is also a job reference, so whenever I contact him to tell him I'm looking I also let him know what I was up to at the last job, what I'm looking for now, and whether I think it would be a good opportunity for any of his current students. People who helped you generally want to know how that worked out for you, and your information can help them with the students they're mentoring now.