Samoyed

It's been about a week and out of four e-mails I sent for a request, only two responded to write me a LoR. One professor would answer my questions about classwork, but ignored the request (I assume this is a rejection). One never responded. I am taking non-degree grad classes online and I am too far from the campus to ever visit. I would send e-mails every so often to stay connected, though. This is a huge roadblock. I work in a job completely unrelated to the program I want to go into (which probably eliminates the effectiveness of getting a LoR from there) and my undergrad GPA was horrible--2.79--which necessitates a professor writing about my academics and how I have high grades and I work hard. I have mid-range As in all three classes, which probably helps my case. One application is due January 1st, the other isn't due until March 15th. The program whose application is due January 1st will probably be harder to get into because of my GPA, but I did two on-campus visits there. I'm more worried about a LoR for that one. I know I could find someone at my workplace to write me a LoR, but I work as a department supervisor in a production facility--not in a tech company. I am applying for M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction at two universities. What can I do without sounding needy and desperate?

I'm applying to a different department at IU than you (School of Informatics and Computing), but I'm quite sure it operates all under the same system. If that's the case, there's no way to check the status of anything other than the application has been submitted. It's extremely inconvenient. I was told to e-mail my LoR writers before the deadline to make sure they wrote them, as that was the only way to get verification. Good luck!

I'm applying to IU's HCI/d program and IUPUI's HCI program for Fall 2016. My GPA was a 2.79 in history and I'm taking my GRE tomorrow. I've averaged out my practice tests and I'm looking at ~162 for V and ~154 for Q. V is higher than other accepted students from the results index, but Q is a bit lower. History majors generally have strong essay scores, but we'll see. I am currently taking three HCI classes (so full-time) through IUPUI as a non-degree student. I currently have an A- and two As in the classes. It seems like I should get into IUPUI at least; the class I have an A- in currently has several accepted students failing it. I'm also working 45 hours a week, which apparently means I am some sort of insanely dedicated student doing the impossible. All current grad students have told me that working full time and going to grad school full time is impossible. I'm asking those three professors to write my letters of recommendation. I'm using my work from those classes in my portfolio. Additionally, I met with some professors on the admissions committee from the program at IU and IUPUI; I visited IU twice. I went to a general open house and I went to a campus visit I requested. For both programs, I know exactly what they want on the SoP. Both programs told me to address my GPA in a separate, brief essay if I don't want to address it in my SoP. I'm trying to figure out how to write about it. Hopefully, I will get into either of the programs. I researched how to get into grad school with a sub-3.0 GPA, and the aforementioned things were the most highly suggested courses of action.