LORs- Please oh please help me crack the code

[elreb]

I am 1.5 years out of undergrad (09) and very much ready for grad school, although I am still making decisions about exactly what I want to study, and as such, not going to make application deadlines this year. Which I'm fine with- I think I would like the extra year of professional experience. Plus, I have procrastinated this long on asking for letters of rec. (I know, I am delusional).

Which brings me to my point: I am completely stumped by the whole LOR business. I went to an excellent top ranked undergrad program. I did well, earned a respectable GPA and am hoping to apply to some very competitive grad programs (in the humanities), perhaps with false hope.

However, I had limited relationships with my professors. Even though my department was small, because of distribution requirements, I only had two professors for more than one course. Typically my classes were lectures/ seminars that required one- maybe two- papers at the end of the semester, so virtually no one-on-one research with faculty, but lots of class discussion. I was also involved in campus activities, but all were student-run. I think I was generally of the impression that my professors were way too busy/ important to give me the time of day.

I am baffled by other posters' descriptions of their close faculty relationships. Do I underestimate their ability to remember me? Someone reminded me that LORs are "just their job," but if that's the case, than how is it that we don't all end up with rote letters? Is gradcafe just an especially competitive community?

So, any tips on how I can remedy this now? I believe I can get at least two positive recommendations out of very prominent professors, but only one can speak to my research. How do I remind my professors of who I am and coax a good letter out of them? What's the best angle for someone I only knew for one semester? Can I use the next year before I apply to foster those relationships somehow?

[modernity]

I am 1.5 years out of undergrad (09) and very much ready for grad school, although I am still making decisions about exactly what I want to study, and as such, not going to make application deadlines this year. Which I'm fine with- I think I would like the extra year of professional experience. Plus, I have procrastinated this long on asking for letters of rec. (I know, I am delusional).

Which brings me to my point: I am completely stumped by the whole LOR business. I went to an excellent top ranked undergrad program. I did well, earned a respectable GPA and am hoping to apply to some very competitive grad programs (in the humanities), perhaps with false hope.

However, I had limited relationships with my professors. Even though my department was small, because of distribution requirements, I only had two professors for more than one course. Typically my classes were lectures/ seminars that required one- maybe two- papers at the end of the semester, so virtually no one-on-one research with faculty, but lots of class discussion. I was also involved in campus activities, but all were student-run. I think I was generally of the impression that my professors were way too busy/ important to give me the time of day.

I am baffled by other posters' descriptions of their close faculty relationships. Do I underestimate their ability to remember me? Someone reminded me that LORs are "just their job," but if that's the case, than how is it that we don't all end up with rote letters? Is gradcafe just an especially competitive community?

So, any tips on how I can remedy this now? I believe I can get at least two positive recommendations out of very prominent professors, but only one can speak to my research. How do I remind my professors of who I am and coax a good letter out of them? What's the best angle for someone I only knew for one semester? Can I use the next year before I apply to foster those relationships somehow?

Yes you can use the next year before you apply to foster relationships - once you find out what you want to do, get involved even on a volunteer basis in that field - at a job, at a university, email someone in the field with research questions if you have them - start talking! Some programs will accept nonprofessorial recommendations IF its still an expert in your field. Contact those old professors - remind them who you are, what class you took, and what your grade was... offer to send them old papers of yours if you still have them, and find out if they can remember enough of you to write a recommendation letter. LORs are an expected part of a professors job, they won't be surprised at the request and they won't be surprised you're brown nosing to get a good one. It's part of the process. If you only can obtain two LORs - there are programs out there that only require two although they're generally MAs - however if you have limited recommendations, and limited research experience you may need to do an MA before you go for a PhD in order to help secure a good program/funding at the PhD level.

GradCafe is a VERY competitive community and I guarantee you there are people out there who are much less qualified then the people here, that still get in to grad school (and funded I might add)... however its kind of good to have people like this around in the application process because it forces you to shoot as high as you can, and work as hard as you can... not to mention the benefits of having these guys to critique your SOP and other elements of an application.

[Sparky]

Well hey, I've been there (except I emphatically did not go to an "excellent top ranked undergraduate program"). If you think your LORs might be weak one thing you might want to consider is applying to master's programs next year (or whenever). That will first of all give you the chance to make sure that what you want to study is what you do, in fact, want to study, but it will also give you the opportunity to get better, more detailed LORs for when you apply to PhD programs.

But then again, part of the reason I went that route was because I was too lazy to spend a year building/rebuilding relationships with former profs. So you are already a step up, I suppose.

And modernity is right--most of the people here are, in general, terrifyingly good at what they do and have been very motivated for PhD work for a long time. And then there are those of us who just squeezed our eyes shut and prayed really, really hard.

[modernity]

Well hey, I've been there (except I emphatically did not go to an "excellent top ranked undergraduate program"). If you think your LORs might be weak one thing you might want to consider is applying to master's programs next year (or whenever). That will first of all give you the chance to make sure that what you want to study is what you do, in fact, want to study, but it will also give you the opportunity to get better, more detailed LORs for when you apply to PhD programs.

But then again, part of the reason I went that route was because I was too lazy to spend a year building/rebuilding relationships with former profs. So you are already a step up, I suppose.

And modernity is right--most of the people here are, in general, terrifyingly good at what they do and have been very motivated for PhD work for a long time. And then there are those of us who just squeezed our eyes shut and prayed really, really hard.

This is exactly what I'm doing - I'm in the middle of a funded MA program so that I can figure out what I want to do, and get better experience, a thesis, better GPA, and stellar LORs for a chance at a PhD if that is what I decide to do. Plus in my field time to degree is looonnggg in the PhD world, so the 2 years makes me sure I want to do it for 3 times that!

[Eigen]

My suggestions:

See if faculty in your department are involved in any volunteer/community based projects.

I worked with one faculty member every year for 5 years judging the Science Olympiad competitions in our region, and that certainly gave me a good chance to get to know her better. Similarly, I worked with another faculty member in a related department several years in a row to put together a "fair" each summer for handicapped kids.

Another way is to get involved in officer positions within student organizations. Most have a faculty adviser who you'll spend a lot more time with as an officer, planning things.

Personally, when I was VP then president of our SAACS (chemistry club) group, I spent a ton of time with a lot of our faculty members- whether it was getting them to come speak at a meeting, putting on socials, or organizing demonstrations. My wife was an officer in our SAACS group, and then in the psychology (Psi Chi) honors society, and she got good faculty contacts in both.

The last and most common way is to go work as a researcher for a faculty member over the summer or during the semester.

Basically, you need to find what your professors do outside of class, and then get involved in that. Most are advisers in some student organization or other, or oversee out of class activities in some other way. And most are involved in research, and can always use an extra pair of dedicated, skilled hands.

[elreb]

Thanks so much for the advice. I am actually going for the MA for now, but there are just a couple I really want to get into, so I want to do the best I can. To the above poster, your thoughts are great and I will pass them on, although I myself am out of school. Thanks!