Professor agrees but...

[giantpanda]

I asked for a letter of recommendation by e-mail and the Professor replied saying that there isn't much he can write, if anything, beyond a description of the class I took and the grade I received and asked for the info to be sent over.

Is this good/bad? Is he going to give me a subtle "non-recommendation?" What would you do in this situation?

Edited February 12, 2011 by giantpanda

[roarie]

What is the reasoning for asking this professor? Is there any other professor in your department whom you can ask? It does sound like he's going to write a lukewarm letter at best.

If he's the only person from whom you can get a letter, ask him if you can meet him for office hours (if you're still on the same campus) and explain to him your goals.

Also, what information did he ask to be sent over? Perhaps you can ask him if he'd also be interested in a personal statement and a copy of a paper (or whatever graded assignment) you wrote for his class (or a more recent one, if some time has passed) to help him with the writing process.

[communications13]

I don't think it means he would give you a "non-recommend" but warning you it won't be a stand out recommendation. I think he's suggesting you ask someone who can speak more for you personally, your strengths and put effort into a stellar rec.

[cranberry]

If a potential recommender had said that to me I would have dropped it immediately.

[SuperPiePie]

I would not get a rec from him since he clearly stated he would not be able to say much about you. is there anyone else you can find?

[giantpanda]

I would not get a rec from him since he clearly stated he would not be able to say much about you. is there anyone else you can find?

I've been out of college for 4 years. I have one other professor writing a letter and a former employer.

If a potential recommender had said that to me I would have dropped it immediately.

Is he saying that he does not want to write the recommendation and is simply being polite?

Also, the applyyourself online application will ask him for his recommendation "strongly recommend"/"recommend"/"recommend with reservation"/"do not recommend." What is his likely choice? I've had him for 3 classes 1 A, 2 B's.

Thanks for the replies.

Edited February 12, 2011 by giantpanda

[fuzzylogician]

I've been out of college for 4 years. I have one other professor writing a letter and a former employer.

Is he saying that he does not want to write the recommendation and is simply being polite?

Also, the applyyourself online application will ask him for his recommendation "strongly recommend"/"recommend"/"recommend with reservation"/"do not recommend." What is his likely choice? I've had him for 3 classes 1 A, 2 B's.

Thanks for the replies.

He is offering to write you a "Did Well In Class" recommendation that will in essence not help you in any way, except satisfy the formal requirement that you submit 3 LoRs. A DWIC is nearly useless in a rec letter because the adcom can already see the grades on your transcripts and know what classes you did well in or not. It won't address your potential to do research--one of the most important components of a grad school rec letter--at all. In short, this is not a good option for a letter.

Edited February 12, 2011 by fuzzylogician

[qbtacoma]

I see where you are trapped here - you need professors to write two of your three letters, but you have been out of school for so long that this professor cannot honestly write you a good letter.

As someone else said, see if you can sit down and talk about your goals with him. Other things you can do: send him a summary of your work in class to jog his memory, your resume, and a draft of your SOP (but don't necessarily ask for his feedback on this, this is for his information only). Try to give him a handle of who you are and what led you to applying to graduate school at this time. At worst, he will only write the useless letter. At best, your information will trigger something specific about you in his memory, or he can talk about his new impressions of you. It still won't be a great letter, but it will be better than he could have done. I'm sure he feels bad that he can't give you a better one.