Is it appropriate to ask a professor to write recommendations to ... schools?

[TeaOverCoffee]

I'm an undergraduate English major, and I'm applying to graduate school for Fall 2015. I intend to apply to 14 programs total (a mixture of MA and Ph.D. programs). Is it inappropriate to ask my professors to write 14 recommendations for me? I have three professors in mind who more than likely will accept to write recommendations for me, but I just don't know if it's asking too much.

I'd happily go to any of the schools I've chosen, so there aren't "fall-back" schools in my list. So personally, I don't think my list is too much, so I'm not interested in reducing my list. I can't fathom not receiving a single acceptance because I lazily didn't apply to every program that I considered. I'm simply wondering if I ask a professor to write 14 recommendations, will that be an overload for them? Should I instead get four or five professors to write recommendations, alternating professors occasionally?

[the_sheath]

Wait, I thought the standard was like 10 schools?

 

And don't grad schools require 3 recommendation letters each? You're looking at 42 letters there. I don't think it's that big of a deal to ask a professor to write letters of rec for 14 schools (unless that professor hates you or doesn't know you or something), since they'd likely recycle the same letter 14 times, just changing the names around. Filling out the letter submission form, though, I hear is a pain in the ass. I heard this from one of my rec writers. But it's not like you're asking them to write 14 uniquely tailored letters.

 

Just give your professors as much time as possible, and be aware of anything that would prevent you from getting that letter (e.g. they're flaky or really super busy all the time forever)

[juilletmercredi]

^Yeah, basically your professors are going to write 1 letter that they will then tweak to send to different schools.  I think they expect to be asked to submit several letters to many programs in the 10-15 range for each student.

[themmases]

Submission forms do suck-- they are the only thing your references would actually be doing 14 times. When you ask someone to be your reference, have your information ready for them: your resume, a statement of purpose or at least a short statement about what types of programs you're applying to and why, and a list of your schools and degrees.

 

If your schools have cover forms that get faxed or scanned in, print those and fill as much of them out yourself as you can. If they use an online form, email those to your professors immediately after you meet with a subject line that makes it clear which school and applicant it's for. If there are both, let the professor pick. If you can't do any part of the form for them, make sure your resume or something includes all the information about you they would need to do it themselves. This is the area where you can really save people some unpleasant work.

[bakalamba]

It's not inappropriate, if you're upfront about it. If it's an issue for any of your professors, then you can find others to alternate. I agree with the previous comments, that you should do everything to make sure the process is the easiest for them. For a few, I provided a "talking points" list that reminded them of the classes/seminars I took with them, my career interests and academic background, etc.

 

I only applied to 7 programs, but if I could do it again, I would have done my research and figured out how many of them use submission forms (all of them did) and let at least one of my rec writers know about that before the process. He was happy to recommend me but agreed with me that the forms were a pain.

[TeaOverCoffee]

I really appreciate all you guys replying! I'll ask my professors once school begins again in August. I'll definitely look into that whole submission form issue that many have brought up.