Letters of Rec and Community College Profs

[Amalia222]

Hi All,

I just wanted to leave a note here in case anybody else ends up in my position.

I graduated from my MA in 2002, and left to travel the world. When I started thinking about going back to grad school in 2006, I recontacted the profs from my graduate committee. They all declined. Every single one. They didn't remember me, they had retired from academic, they were too busy....blah, blah, blah. I started trying other professors, but it had just been too long. I could only get one person to agree, and she was my teaching assistantship supervisor, rather than a prof I'd worked with. It wasn't ideal, but I was grateful. That left two spots vacant, and no ideas. I ended up not applying, because I was so discouraged by the whole LOR situation.

Fast forward to 2010. I decided the only way to fulfill my dream meant getting LOR the hard way. So I enrolled in 4 community college courses, going to school full time for just one semester. I figured I'd choose 2 of my four profs, the ones I liked the most and who might be sympathetic to my plight. I did everything I could to excel in those classes, often offering to help them with outside projects. It worked out.

Now, a lot of people say you shouldn't get LORs from community college profs, and that major universities will not look at you if you do. That is NOT TRUE. I was accepted into grad school this year, despite having community college profs do my LOR. I explained my situation in my SOP, and now I finally get to do what I want to do. So I guess I just wanted to tell people not to get discouraged by LOR. For me, getting LOR was the hardest part of the whole process!

Oh, I also recommend giving your profs a portfolio of your work, a CV, and other information, especially if they haven't had time to get to know you that well. I also kept my recommenders informed whenever I published anythting, so they felt part of my application process.

Good luck!

[jordanami]

I did the same thing, went back and took some classes non-degree status just for the ref's since I had been out of school for so long. I could not even find the profs I had worked with when I went back to look for them 5 years later, people move around so much in academia. The classes I took were University classes, one grad level, but the situation is similar. I haven't heard back from any of the schools I've applied to yet, but I think I will be fine with the references I have. I have been telling my younger sister, who has just graduated and is going to take some time off, to get some references on file with her school. Even though those are not worth much, I think if she goes back a couple years later to contact some of her old profs they will remember her better if they have written a letter for her before, they may even still have it on file. And some schools will accepts those filed letters too. If I had it to do over again, that is what I would have done. But, as it happened, things are working out for me, sometimes the windier path gives life its flavor.

Good luck in your new program!

Hi All,

I just wanted to leave a note here in case anybody else ends up in my position.

I graduated from my MA in 2002, and left to travel the world. When I started thinking about going back to grad school in 2006, I recontacted the profs from my graduate committee. They all declined. Every single one. They didn't remember me, they had retired from academic, they were too busy....blah, blah, blah. I started trying other professors, but it had just been too long. I could only get one person to agree, and she was my teaching assistantship supervisor, rather than a prof I'd worked with. It wasn't ideal, but I was grateful. That left two spots vacant, and no ideas. I ended up not applying, because I was so discouraged by the whole LOR situation.

Fast forward to 2010. I decided the only way to fulfill my dream meant getting LOR the hard way. So I enrolled in 4 community college courses, going to school full time for just one semester. I figured I'd choose 2 of my four profs, the ones I liked the most and who might be sympathetic to my plight. I did everything I could to excel in those classes, often offering to help them with outside projects. It worked out.

Now, a lot of people say you shouldn't get LORs from community college profs, and that major universities will not look at you if you do. That is NOT TRUE. I was accepted into grad school this year, despite having community college profs do my LOR. I explained my situation in my SOP, and now I finally get to do what I want to do. So I guess I just wanted to tell people not to get discouraged by LOR. For me, getting LOR was the hardest part of the whole process!

Oh, I also recommend giving your profs a portfolio of your work, a CV, and other information, especially if they haven't had time to get to know you that well. I also kept my recommenders informed whenever I published anythting, so they felt part of my application process.

Good luck!

[emmm]

I also went back to community college and got letters from my profs there when I applied to grad school. I did not start taking community college classes for this reason, however. Rather, it was one of my CC profs who encouraged me to think about grad school and got me an internship in her old PhD group (providing me with yet another of my letters). I know the 4-year schools look down on the CCs, but you can find wonderful people at CCs. I would not be where I am now if I had not taken the CC classes.