None of my profs know me very well...

[kalosskylos]

Hi!

So I'm a 3rd year undergrad at the University of Chicago (Anthro major) and my one biggest fear in applying to grad schools is the fact that I really do not have any professors who know me well at all (at least, not ones who are connected in any way to the area I'm interested in).

I have the following problems:

1. I'm a transfer student, so I only had my 2nd and 3rd years to familiarize myself with faculty.

2. UChicago runs on a quarter system, so the time spent with each professor is less. There are so many different people teaching courses, it seems very difficult to take more than one class with the same instructor.

3. Nearly all my transfer credits transferred as elective credits, so I've been plowing through Core Curriculum courses the past two years, most of which are only remotely related to my academic interests.

4. I've made the mistake of taking a large portion of Anthro courses taught by grad students rather than actual professors, so even though they know me very well, they can't exactly write my LORs.

5. I want to apply to a Master's Program in Mediterranean Studies or European history (with a focus on modern Greece/Mediterranean), but the courses I've taken in that area were in my first-year/previous school and I doubt if my professors remember me much, if at all. I've taken a handful of courses in this area at UChicago, but one was a big lecture course with hardly any student/teacher interaction and the others were taught by a professor in the Slavic Department who is going to write one of my LORs (she's not renowned or anything).

So my questions are the following:

1. Would it be a bad idea to request an LOR from a professor whose areas of expertise aren't that relevant to what I am applying for? I have a few professors who would write me great recommendations, but I've only taken general theory-type courses with them, not courses related to my specific interests in Greece/Europe. Obviously the Anthropology department at Chicago is not exactly Europe focused.

2. Should I shop for a course these upcoming Autumn and Winter quarters basically with the purpose of milking a recommendation out of someone? I don't want to seem like a leech, though.

I have a 3.68 overall GPA and a 3.87 GPA in my major, I expect to have good GRE scores (I had SAT 800 Verbal, 800 Writing scores, and I'm studying like mad for the GREs, so I think they should turn out well), my SOP seems pretty good...I'm not that ambitious, I would just be glad to get into ANY graduate program...

[fuzzylogician]

So my questions are the following:

1. Would it be a bad idea to request an LOR from a professor whose areas of expertise aren't that relevant to what I am applying for? I have a few professors who would write me great recommendations, but I've only taken general theory-type courses with them, not courses related to my specific interests in Greece/Europe. Obviously the Anthropology department at Chicago is not exactly Europe focused.

2. Should I shop for a course these upcoming Autumn and Winter quarters basically with the purpose of milking a recommendation out of someone? I don't want to seem like a leech, though.

I have a 3.68 overall GPA and a 3.87 GPA in my major, I expect to have good GRE scores (I had SAT 800 Verbal, 800 Writing scores, and I'm studying like mad for the GREs, so I think they should turn out well), my SOP seems pretty good...I'm not that ambitious, I would just be glad to get into ANY graduate program...

1. Obviously the best case scenario is glowing recommendations from professors in your field of interest. But if you have to choose between glowing recommendations and recommendations from professors in your field, the former is preferable. You didn't say what you want to do with your MA, but assuming that most programs like the ones you're applying to are research-oriented, it will be generally preferable to have recommendations from professors who know you well and can speak to your research abilities, enthusiasm, potential, etc. You want to ask the ones who you wrote good papers for and impressed the most in class, not the ones who happen to be in your field regardless of your performance in their class.

2. Yes, of course you should take relevant classes in your next quarters (with the same instructor, if at all possible) and ask for a letter if you do well. It's not leeching, it's part of the professor's job. Depending on how strong you expect this letter to be (after all, you'll only know the professor for 1-2 quarters) and depending on what your other options are, you might consider using this letter as a fourth, supporting letter for schools that allow that.

Also: you say you took classes with grad students -- were any of them supervised by a professor? Could you ask the student to write the letter together with the professor and have them both sign it?

[Jae B.]

You still have time. Make office hours visits a priority -- another transfer student here, did this the semester I applied to grad school and managed to get a strong recommendation in my field I wasn't sure I'd be able to get! Office hours visits, while not a guarantee, are one of the best ways to get to know a professor -- especially if you don't have much time to do so and can't risk them not noticing your contributions in class. If the professor doesn't have high-traffic office hours, stopping by to show them someone's interested in talking to them gives you big points! But if the professor does field a lot of students, make an appointment so you can talk without being too rushed. Honestly, this is something I didn't do enough of!

Making a list of every professor I'd ever taken a class from or consulted for any reason (major department, major advisor, specialized in topic I researched, etc.) really helped me. I highlighted every professor I'd 1) taken or would take more than one class with, 2) I thought knew me well enough, 3) that I really appreciated regardless of how well I thought they knew me. Then I decided who would be relevant to my applications, and I used the summer and semester I was applying to graduate school to re-connect with those people.

If you can get two recommendations in or close to your field / interests, then I think a third could be less directly related. For that less-related letter, you could give that recommender some important talking points that would convey you have excellent graduate-level potential for your programs; your maturity, you are personable and easy to work with, have excellent writing, go the extra mile, clearly express critical thinking, have strong research skills, etc. Some other relevant information that demonstrates your preparation and would count towards your admission. Try to figure out what student-skills are most important to your programs, and have that third person emphasize your success in those areas.

If your major interests have ever snuck into your outside-major classes (mine did ALL the time -- no matter how unrelated the course actually was!), perhaps you could ask one of those professors to talk about a project you did or essay you wrote that is related to your grad school field. So try to think about the work you're most proud of, how it relates to your interests, and then think about the people connected to it -- and you still have time to reach out to them!

Do you have any work experience in your field? Maybe you can get one strong non-academic letter.

Edited June 17, 2010 by Jae B.

[kalosskylos]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely be taking advantage of office hours in the future...

[Jae B.]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely be taking advantage of office hours in the future...

You're welcome, and good luck!