How to Ask for LORs?

[Unimpressed3D]

I've got one prof who's all on board, but the other two...I have no idea how to approach them. I think they're both well enough disposed toward me, but I get really nervous about approaching people. Any ideas? Is it best to bring it up in person, or is it better to give them some time to formulate a response by sending an email? I'm not even taking a class with one this semester, so I don't know his office hours. Plus, I don't want to ambush anybody.

[sjoh197]

I approached mine with an email... asking more or less if they had time to meet with me for a moment... I had a favor to ask... blah blah blah. Then I asked them in person, and had my resume, transcript, relevant material already printed and sorted out for if they said yes. 

[Unimpressed3D]

Thanks. Did they say yes? How did the approach work out? I guess I'm just worried about getting off on the wrong foot, even though they both seem to like me. I'm pretty introverted and nervous about approaching people for favors in general. I'm trying to remember it's part of their job, but...

[sjoh197]

All of my LOR's said yes. They all knew what I wanted before I met with them, even though I didn't directly ask. What other "favor" could an undergrad really want? :) 

I think a good idea is to literally ask them "Would you be able to write me a GOOD letter of recommendation?" rather than just asking "Can you write me a letter of recommendation?". This prevents any of your professors from writing you a so-so letter just because they didn't want to say no, because c'mon, they're human too. No person likes to say no to something like that and they might just say yes to avoid any embarrassment. The "GOOD" would allow them to decline on the premise of "not knowing you well enough" or whatever. Then if they say yes you know it will actually be a decent letter. 

 

Being the kid of a professor, they are a lot less scary  You'll do just fine, and if they seem to like you and did well in they're class/whatever, I doubt they'll say no.