A Complete 180!

[eastcoastdude123]

Before I graduated from college a few months ago, I asked three of my favorite professors if they could write me good letters of recommendation, and they all said that they would. At the time, I had planned on attending graduate school to obtain an MPA or an MPP. Since then I have had a pretty big change of heart about what I want to do with my life... I want to become a high school guidance counselor, and I am hoping to start applying to various programs in the coming months. I guess my question is this: Could my change in academic/career interests change their willingness to write me a LOR? I know its just some dumb worrying on my part, especially since they already said they would be happy to write me letters, but I just wanted to get some opinions from others in the forum.

[rogue]

One of the main points of an LOR is for a third party to attest that you're capable of succeeding in graduate level work. My take on it is, if you're capable (and they must think so if they agreed to write for you), you're capable. A change of field shouldn't change that, unless, say, you were changing from history to astrophysics or something similarly major.

[jasper.milvain]

Could my change in academic/career interests change their willingness to write me a LOR?

Only if the new field requires information about an ability that you have not demonstrated to these professors-- for example, if one had taught you a strictly quantitative course, and the letter form asked how good your essay writing was. But if that was the case, you should be seeking a referee who could better answer the required questions, anyways. In short, it shouldn't be a problem.