nopm Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I asked one of my professors (a part-time contract prof) for a letter of recommendation. She politely refused, saying that she doesn't have the time but otherwise would love to write one for me. I think that it should be a contractual requirement of ALL faculty members to write letters of recommendation if they feel that their students are deserving. The reason I feel this way is that suppose that ALL professors took the position of this one professor. No student would get a letter of recommendation. Therefore, no student would be able to apply for grad school and their futures would be cut short. Do you agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_ruth Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I asked one of my professors (a part-time contract prof) for a letter of recommendation. She politely refused, saying that she doesn't have the time but otherwise would love to write one for me. I think that it should be a contractual requirement of ALL faculty members to write letters of recommendation if they feel that their students are deserving. The reason I feel this way is that suppose that ALL professors took the position of this one professor. No student would get a letter of recommendation. Therefore, no student would be able to apply for grad school and their futures would be cut short. Do you agree? maybe that was her polite way of refusing so she didn't have to say she didn't have anything really great to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irrealised Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I wouldn't want someone writing me a letter that didn't actually care about my future success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonights Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I wouldn't want someone writing me a letter that didn't actually care about my future success. Agree with this 100%. Would you really want a recommender writing you a letter because they were forced to? I personally wouldn't have many good things to say if I was recommending against my will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plisar Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Sometimes we get students applying to our Ph.D. program in engineering using TA's as letter writers. That doesn't go over well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
engimo Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Seriously. If someone isn't enthusiastic about writing a letter of recommendation then you probably don't want them writing it for you. I've talked to people who have agreed to write letters for people that they don't really want to write them for, and they've said that it is much more difficult to write a quality letter for that sort of person. Plus, how exactly would you enforce that? A professor could just say that they didn't want to write you a letter, and then they would have no obligation to write it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_ruth Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I think this poster is a troll. They posted a bunch last night and then deleted all their posts. That's why I quoted this one. Plus, I think this is a fairly strange question/suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvyHope Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Yeah, I'm glad you did quote it, because I was curious what that was all about...it's hard to tell, using just context clues. Obviously, if a letter writer turns down a request, they don't have anything nice to say and they don't want to say it to your face. This process is quite delicate- a prof is hired to do many things, including writing letters of recommendation. They are not expected or required to write positive letters for everyone, particularly if they feel they can't find anything nice to say. They were trying to be nice by saying no, they don't have time...they were trying to send you a message. My close advisor and I chatted about this very thing about a week ago. She had a student who asked for a letter, and she politely declined, saying she was very busy or something else. The student persisted, not taking the hint...so, this advisor wrote it! And it was really bad... Gotta read between the lines sometimes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridgey Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I think this poster is a troll. They posted a bunch last night and then deleted all their posts. That's why I quoted this one. Plus, I think this is a fairly strange question/suggestion. Yip. And agree with the reading between the lines thing - that's probably the professor's way of saying they don't want to write for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinyboss Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Or maybe the OP (assuming it's not a troll) asked too close to the deadline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hepkath Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 In my experience, if a professor really cares about you, believes in your academic trajectory, and wants you to succeed, he or she will write a recommendation at the last minute if need be. Other requests might be refused if you're cutting it super close (requests for advice on your SOP or writing sample, for example), and the letter might not be as brilliant/perfect as it would be given more time, but a recommendation will be written. Professors (especially in the humanities...) understand things like procrastination (they are often extreme procrastinators themselves), and are able to separate their annoyance at having to do something last-minute from their endorsement of your work. 'Too busy' is almost definitely a polite way of saying 'my recommendation would hurt more than help' unless the procrastination has gotten well and truly out of hand (ie. you're making your request mere hours before a deadline). Even then, devoted profs will likely sacrifice their lunch/dinner/prep time in favor of letter-writing if they think you have no one else to turn to. No one wants to see a beloved student rejected from a program on the basis of a missing recommendation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopelessly_Neurotic Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I think that it should be a contractual requirement of ALL faculty members to write letters of recommendation if they feel that their students are deserving. The reason I feel this way is that suppose that ALL professors took the position of this one professor. No student would get a letter of recommendation. Therefore, no student would be able to apply for grad school and their futures would be cut short. Do you agree? Give me a break. Contractual requirement?? If a prof feels that you are deserving of a letter of recommendation then they will write you one, no need to force them!! This person probably didn't want to write you a letter because she didn't feel she could write something positive and didn't want to hurt your application. Too bad she wasn't more frank. I can't imagine someone saying no because they don't have time -- unless you asked the day before!! You have to give adequate notice. It takes a lot of work for a student to build the relationships with faculty that they need in order to secure decent LORs, and I can't imagine any reasonable person refusing to write a letter for a student who had demonstrated that they were worthy of recommendation. Furthermore, your reasoning that if all profs took the position of this prof then no student would be able to go to grad school is just plain silly. That is a huge IF that will never materialize because most if not all professors want the students they view as capable to succeed in their endeavors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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