Getting LORs

[persephoneia]

I'm worried that I'll have very weak letters of recommendation. The problem is I've transferred around as an undergrad and have only been at my current university for a year and didn't stay at my other schools very long either. I don't know any of my professors well enough to feel comfortable asking them, nor do I think they'd be able to give a good LOR.

 

How much do LORs affect admission to Ph.D or Masters program? I do have a decent GPA (3.68). I'm just worried that having weak LORs will hurt my applications since there's really only one person I can think of who I know can give me a good LOR. 

[daydreamer254]

The weight that each item in an application carries varies from program to program--some look at GPA and test scores more while others could care less about numbers. I think what matters most is your personal statement.

 

Anyway, for two of my programs I asked a professor to write a letter for me, who I only had one class with, but received an A in. You don't have to know your professors inside and out in order for them to write a great letter: all you need is to have gotten an A in their class, met with them during office hours, and were an overall good student. If you did all three, you can ask pretty much any professor you want, with some precaution (you may want to ask someone in the field you're interested in to write you a letter, for example).

 

A good rule of thumb for finding letter writers is that if you know a professor is going to write you a weak letter, don't ask him/her. I've been in this position as well.

 

It doesn't hurt to ask, though. Really. I was nervous to ask said professor for a letter but she agreed, to my surprise. You can also ask employers for letters. Most MA programs require at least two letters to be from faculty members. The third can be an employer or somebody like that.

 

Hope I answered your question.

[gingersnapsback]

I agree with daydreamer254. The weight that some programs put on the LORs can be radically different than others. My program required 3, but I only had to have one from faculty (it just didn't seem like that put THAT much weight on LORs, to be honest). Some programs put much more weight on GPAs (and you have a good one, so I wouldn't worry) or the GRE (some don't require it); some don't really seem to care about those at all. My program said the two most important things about my application was my SOP and another essay I had to write for them. 

 

Like daydreamer254 said, it doesn't hurt to ask. The one prof I did ask, and who did write my letter, said that he'll upfront tell students no if he doesn't feel like he can write them a strong letter. He won't waste his or the student's time. When I asked, I asked if he would be "comfortable" writing me a "strong" letter so as to give him the option to say no if he didn't feel like he could.

 

I don't know how much time you have left until you graduate or are applying to grad school, but if it's awhile, you can always try to get to know the profs now. I transferred my junior year to my current university, and as soon as I knew what prof I wanted to write my letter, I made sure to go and see him during his office hours and took more than one class with him so that he could write me a strong letter. However, like daydreamer254 said, they don't need to know you that well and vice versa. When I asked my prof, I gave him my resume, SOP, and another essay for my grad school just to give him more information about me, why I wanted to apply, what I wanted to do once I graduate from grad school, and a bit of information about my previous work. He said that helped a lot. I think it's also a good idea to tell the prof why you're choosing him/her. The reason I chose my prof is 1). He graduated from grad school from a top 5 and 2). I do so much writing for his class (and do well), and I bombed the GRE AW, so I really asked him to highlight that. 

 

Also, getting some from employers is a good point. I already work in the field I'm going to grad school for, so I asked the director of my place of employment and my direct supervisor (who also happens to be a professor) to write two for me. Employers may not be able to speak about your academics, but they can speak about your personal character, which says a lot, too. 

 

Good luck!