Recommendation Letters. WHATTT

[docjourney]

I want to apply for the clinical psych Ph.D. program. The deadline is this December 1st and I'm really excited and nervous about everything! but just for a FYI...

 

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

How do you know if they like you or not?

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

How long do you have to know your professor?

How long before applications?

 

Did anyone else feel like this and what else did you stress about? What did you do??

[gradapplicant15]

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

If you are a current student and you are doing well in class, just go to their office hours and ask. If they agree, also ask if they would require some documents from you (i.e. transript, letter of interest, etc). If you are a former student, send them an email first to ask if you can meet with them.

How do you know if they like you or not?

Just meet with them and ask. If they are unable to write a strong letter, I think they will let you know.

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

In your case, perhaps clinical psychology professors? I'm not in Psychology, so am not sure.

How long before applications?

I would suggest to ask 3 months in advance so profs can have enough time and not feel rushed. If they agree to write, contact them once in a while to remind about letter deadline.

Edited February 22, 2015 by gradapplicant15

[victorydance]

Have you done any research projects with professors? Have you worked 1 on 1 in any capacity with professors? These are the type of letters you should be shooting for. If you don't have any of these letters, find ways to get them before you finish. 

[Mr. Impatiently Waiting]

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

If you are a current student and you are doing well in class, just go to their office hours and ask. If they agree, also ask if they would require some documents from you (i.e. transript, letter of interest, etc). If you are a former student, send them an email first to ask if you can meet with them.

How do you know if they like you or not?

Just meet with them and ask. If they are unable to write a strong letter, I think they will let you know.

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

In your case, perhaps clinical psychology professors? I'm not in Psychology, so am not sure.

How long before applications?

I would suggest to ask 3 months in advance so profs can have enough time and not feel rushed. If they agree to write, contact them once in a while to remind about letter deadline.

 

I pretty much echo everything said in this response. 

 

I want to apply for the clinical psych Ph.D. program. The deadline is this December 1st and I'm really excited and nervous about everything! but just for a FYI...

 

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

How do you know if they like you or not?

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

How long do you have to know your professor?

How long before applications?

 

Did anyone else feel like this and what else did you stress about? What did you do??

 

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

 

Go to office hours or schedule a meeting with them to discuss your future academic/professional goals. Tell them which programs you are considering and ask them if they would feel comfortable writing a strong letter of rec for you. 

 

How do you know if they like you or not?

 

Unless you have been a difficult student I would say that your professors are either indifferent about you or they like you. If the professor doesn't know you all that well they will be honest with you and tell you that they probably can't write you a strong LOR. 

 

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

 

If you have spent a lot of time in office hours with a particular professor, they would be a good candidate to ask. If you have done any independent research with a professor you could ask them. If you have neither of those, spend your last quarter/semester in office hours with as many professors as possible and try to create a positive relationship with them. I would also suggest trying to do some independent research with a professor if you still have the opportunity. 

 

How long do you have to know your professor?

 

That really depends on what you have done with that particular professor. For example, I asked a professor I had only known for about 5 months, but I was his research assistant and he was also the advisor of my independent research project. One of the other professors I asked I had known for about a year, but I took a graduate level course with him and worked for him. If you are up a against a wall with regard to time left in school, just do your best to form a good relationship and be open about what you are trying to pursue after you complete your undergraduate career. In my experience, most professors are generally understanding when it comes to issuing a LOR. 

 

How long before applications?

 

As soon as possible. The earlier the better. If you want a good letter, you really shouldn't put them up against a harsh deadline. I would say about 3-6 months before applications are due. If you go with the 6 month range you might need to remind them a few times in order to insure that you will get the letter on time. 

 

With regard to feeling stressed about LORs, I was super stressed about it. I felt like I was asking them out on a date or something haha But in reality it was actually a pretty smooth process. In my experience, professors generally know that students build relationships because they hope to benefit in the end. I think that the best approach is to be open, honest, and straightforward with them. Professors know that you need letters of recommendation to get into grad school so a lot of them expect to be asked. Personally, I stressed out way more about the GRE and writing my Statement of Purpose. I found the SOP process to be extremely painful and demoralizing. I would recommend starting it as soon as you possibly can and have as many grad students or professors read it as you can. 

 

Hope I was of some help! 

 

Best of luck!

[scarvesandcardigans]

How do you approach the professors for a strong recommendation letter?

If you are a current student and you are doing well in class, just go to their office hours and ask. If they agree, also ask if they would require some documents from you (i.e. transript, letter of interest, etc). If you are a former student, send them an email first to ask if you can meet with them.

How do you know if they like you or not?

Just meet with them and ask. If they are unable to write a strong letter, I think they will let you know.

Who should you ask for recommendation letters?

In your case, perhaps clinical psychology professors? I'm not in Psychology, so am not sure.

How long before applications?

I would suggest to ask 3 months in advance so profs can have enough time and not feel rushed. If they agree to write, contact them once in a while to remind about letter deadline.

 

Bless this response. I also agree that the earlier you ask, the more receptive your professors will be. I asked maybe 2 months before my initial deadlines and, while I could definitely feel that it was a rushed decision on my part, all of the professors that I asked were happy to do it. You can pretty easily tell when you ask what their involvement and openness will be to writing a letter.

 

My $.02 on the "Who," however, is a little different. My suggestion is to check each program website for the schools you are interested in, if not additionally the general Graduate School application requirement page for the school. Some programs very clearly outline that they only want professors within your intended field of study. This is the case for most programs, I believe, but it is always good to double check. 

 

Most professors will tell you outright whether or not they feel comfortable writing a letter for you. One thing that I found to be helpful was to ask if they thought they could write a strong/positive letter for me. It's rare, but I have heard of some people (not usually profs) accepting and then writing a negative rec. Just gotta cover the bases. One of my writers said he did not feel that he could speak to my academics, but I asked him on the basis that he knew me socially/conversationally (it's a language program) and he agreed that he could write to that. 

 

I hope this helps! Best of luck!!