Letters of Recommendation

[melaniemarie8790]

Hello everyone   I'm brand new to this forum, and have read a couple of peoples' answers to similar questions, but most of you seem to be applying for your masters program right out of undergrad.  I graduated with a degree in History-Social Science Education with endorsements in both Middle School Education and ESL.  While looking for a teaching job for three straight years, I have been working as a Teachers Aide for a different Special Education programs including both high school classroom and transition programs.  It was working with SPED students that I was turned on to Speech Pathology.  Now, I've already taken my GRE and am looking at schools in the Chicagoland area.  Since it has been three years since my undergrad graduation, I am hesitant to reach out to my old professors for a letter of recommendation even though I was a 3.9 GPA student.  One of my hesitations is the time lapse, and another is the fact that I would be asking them to write a letter for a Speech program, not History.  Do you think it would hinder my chances of being accepted to a SLP masters program if all of my letters of recommendation are from employers and other Speech Pathologists I've worked with?  I'm worried that without letters from professors I will not look like as strong of a candidate.

[peachypie]

No, those letter writers sound the most relevant.  I graduated and worked and then applied, all of my LORs came from my post-bac time not from undergraduate.  I also applied from UG to PhD not masters, to clarify.  As long as your three letter writers can speak well to your abilities and relevance in that field I think you are fine.  A strong letter from a relevant source is the most important.  They know you are a good student, they can see that from your GPA they will love more to see your success as well outside of school which in this case will come through from your LOR. 

[spursnpearls]

I think it would be fine, as that is your most relevant work. Applying to grad programs, I was in post-bacc and only used one professor rec, the rest were from SLPs I worked with. If you have someone that can speak to academically related skills (time management, ability to ask thoughtful questions, commitment, etc) I think that's just as good! Good luck. 

[onedayslp]

I think it probably depends on the school. Some of the schools are very clear that they want at least 2 academic references. If that is the case and an applicant were to not send any, it would look like they are not following directions.. Some schools, on the other hand, don't give any guidelines as to who should write the letters, so for them it would probably be fine to ask whoever you want.

[loonybean]

I'm also new here! A lot of schools ask for 2 letters from professors so they can get a sense of you as a student.  I have a similar career track (history too) and asked for a recommendation from one professor from my original undergrad work, 8 years ago. All of my post-bac work was online and none of my more recent instructors had a good sense of my writing ability since I was never assigned essays in those classes.  I pointed this out when making the request and I supplied a graded paper (knew my borderline hoarding would be useful someday ) and my transcript from that school in the email request.  He said yes and actually got it written before any of my other references.  I haven't gotten any acceptance letters yet, so maybe it's not a good call, but I wouldn't be afraid to ask. The worst they could do is say no and you're no worse off.  And the basic tools of being a good student are the same no matter what the subject matter. Also, if you get a yes, you'll have multiple perspectives with different strengths highlighted.  I would imagine 3 letters from employers would be pretty similar, especially if they were similar jobs.

[lakegirl92]

I would also email to ask. I graduated this past May and am now working at a school with the special education students. I took sign language over the summer as well. I asked for a recommendation from my CSD undergrad professor, my supervisor for my job, and one from my sign language professor (all of which tie into speech). I emailed schools and asked if this was okay and they say that is totally fine. I think it depends on the school, so I would email them!

[CBG321]

Hello I'm not sure if this has been addressed somewhere else.  But i'm seeing you graduated in a different field from Speech Pathology.  Perhaps your area is different but most schools i've looked into need students to complete a post-bacc program.  I didn't see that indicated in your summary so i'm sorry if i'm pointing out something you've already done/plan to do.  If you plan on doing the post-bacc in person you can ask those professors and if online as the above users state they can also write letter's of rec. 

 

That being said even with a Master's in teaching (I could be totally wrong about this) but I think you still have to complete the undergraduate coursework either through a 3 year program that includes the undegrad part (super competitive) or through a post-bacc program before considering Grad school applications.

 

Once again sorry if you arleady have this in the plan or I am wrong and you don't have to for whatever reason but thought i'd mention it just in case nobody had told you.  Plus it would make the LOR problem disappear.