I know I want to go to grad school after a two-three year break. Should I get recommendation letters while I'm still in undergrad?

[InspireHealth]

I'm graduating in Fall 2012 with a B.A. in Economics. At the moment, I have a tentative Peace Corps assignment in early 2013 as my Plan A. Additionally, I am looking into doing a Post-Bacc Computer Science Program online in order to be a more competitve candidate as far as gpa is concerned. However, that post-bacc program is online so rec letters will probably be less personal. Eventually, I would like to pursue M.A./M.S. in Environmental Economics somewhere down the line. After taking years off from school, how do people approach the recommendation letter requirements?

[emmm]

If you have good relationships with your profs now (as you should), schedule appointments to meet with them to discuss your future plans. Let them know what your post-graduation plans are. Say that you plan to apply to grad school after you're done with the Peace Corps assignment. Discuss your interests and see if they have any program recommendations for you. Stay in touch with updates while you're in the Peace Corps -- especially mention if something you learned in a class ended up being helpful. They won't forget you in 1-2 years, if you have established a relationship (and even if you did nothing, they'd probably still remember you if you weren't at a huge school). It should be fine. I went back to school for some classes to get letters, but I was applying 20+ years out of undergrad. Even if they remembered me, they would be remembering a me I barely remember! When I applied for something 2 years out of undergrad, however, I had no trouble going back and getting recommendations -- and I hadn't made any effort to stay in contact with anyone.

[TheFez]

One problem you have is a bit of a logistical one. Many grad schools these days use an online system for recommendations. Some schools say they won't even accept hard copy letters (though I find this is not true).

So the problem is that a professor can't really "give you" a letter of recommendation easily unless and until you are actually applying. If you know them really well, they could write something now and "store it away" until you are ready. Since you really do want to strike while the iron is hot and things about you are salient.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Like The Fez said, it will most likely be electronic. You're actually somewhat lucky that you're taking a two year break because, if you didn't already have a great relationship with your professors, you can establish one over the next two years. Here is a hypothetical scenario: If you didn't tell your current professors that you were planning on joining the PC, then they would get a random email two years from now from some school saying "so-and-so listed you as a reference." Odds are they would have no idea who so-and-so is or not quite remember exactly what type of student you were. If you tell them beforehand that you're joining the PC, you'll have two years to keep in touch with them and update them on your progress. That way, when they do get an email two years from now from a university asking about so-and-so, 1) they would be expecting it, 2) they would remember what type of student/person you were/are, and 3) you would have a much better relationship with them so the quality of the LOR would be much better.

Edited June 10, 2012 by JoeyBoy718