Who to ask for my third LOR for SLP grad school?

[julianorts]

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to figure out who to ask for my three LORs I need to apply to grad school for speech pathology (I'm going for bilingual in particular). My majors are psychology and Spanish so I am an out-of-field applicant applying to schools that offer 3 year programs and bilingual opportunities.

My first two LORs will hopefully be from professors (I haven't asked yet). One is a Spanish professor that I have had 5 times now- she knows me very well and I have her again in the fall. She has taught me in multiple courses, including a service learning course where she heard very positive things from my volunteer site, so she knows more than just my performance in the classroom (I only have received A's in her classes). My second LOR will hopefully be from a psych professor. I have had her multiple times in class and I participated a lot and received only A's. She was also my academic advisor freshman year, and she continued to advise me on the side these past couple years so she knows a lot about my career goals and ambition.

I'm struggling with the options I came up with for the third LOR. Here's my dilemma:

1) A psych professor I have had twice and will be doing research for in the fall and spring of next year. Sounds like a given, right? Unfortunately, she's going on maternity leave all next semester, so she won't see my participation in her research until the spring. I feel sort of weird asking her because she has had me in class twice, but I don't think she can really say much about my personal attributes. I also would feel really guilty asking her over email to write a letter when she has a newborn and a four-year-old.

2) My friend's mom who is an SLP who I observed. I only observed her for two days, but since she is my friend's mom and knows me more personally, I figured this is a good option to consider. I also think it's great that she's in the field, but I'm nervous that I only observed her for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, the likelihood of me getting to observe her again is slim. She lives very far from my hometown. I'd also have to ask her over email, and I'm also nervous that schools might only want professors.

3) My employer for this summer. She doesn't know me very well yet, but it's a YMCA summer camp so I presume she will know me very well by the end of the summer. I worry that she won't be able to speak about my ability to succeed in graduate school, but she could certainly vouch for my ability to work with kids, which is what I want to do.

 

Thoughts? I'm at a loss for what to do!

[Jolie717]

44 minutes ago, julianorts said:

Hi everyone!

I'm trying to figure out who to ask for my three LORs I need to apply to grad school for speech pathology (I'm going for bilingual in particular). My majors are psychology and Spanish so I am an out-of-field applicant applying to schools that offer 3 year programs and bilingual opportunities.

My first two LORs will hopefully be from professors (I haven't asked yet). One is a Spanish professor that I have had 5 times now- she knows me very well and I have her again in the fall. She has taught me in multiple courses, including a service learning course where she heard very positive things from my volunteer site, so she knows more than just my performance in the classroom (I only have received A's in her classes). My second LOR will hopefully be from a psych professor. I have had her multiple times in class and I participated a lot and received only A's. She was also my academic advisor freshman year, and she continued to advise me on the side these past couple years so she knows a lot about my career goals and ambition.

I'm struggling with the options I came up with for the third LOR. Here's my dilemma:

1) A psych professor I have had twice and will be doing research for in the fall and spring of next year. Sounds like a given, right? Unfortunately, she's going on maternity leave all next semester, so she won't see my participation in her research until the spring. I feel sort of weird asking her because she has had me in class twice, but I don't think she can really say much about my personal attributes. I also would feel really guilty asking her over email to write a letter when she has a newborn and a four-year-old.

2) My friend's mom who is an SLP who I observed. I only observed her for two days, but since she is my friend's mom and knows me more personally, I figured this is a good option to consider. I also think it's great that she's in the field, but I'm nervous that I only observed her for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, the likelihood of me getting to observe her again is slim. She lives very far from my hometown. I'd also have to ask her over email, and I'm also nervous that schools might only want professors.

3) My employer for this summer. She doesn't know me very well yet, but it's a YMCA summer camp so I presume she will know me very well by the end of the summer. I worry that she won't be able to speak about my ability to succeed in graduate school, but she could certainly vouch for my ability to work with kids, which is what I want to do.

 

Thoughts? I'm at a loss for what to do!

Personally I would ask #1 and #2.  At least that way if your Psych professor couldn't do it you will have a back up.  She must think highly of you otherwise I imagine you wouldn't be involved in her research, right?  I think she likely has more relevant info about you than the others, and would be well-received by the letter of rec readers.

[jmk]

I would also choose #1! Could you ask her now, so she could be mentally prepared/be able to give you an answer if she thinks she will be swamped? Seems like you have the most personal relationship with her. 

 

[julianorts]

1 hour ago, Jolie717 said:

Personally I would ask #1 and #2.  At least that way if your Psych professor couldn't do it you will have a back up.  She must think highly of you otherwise I imagine you wouldn't be involved in her research, right?  I think she likely has more relevant info about you than the others, and would be well-received by the letter of rec readers.

 

48 minutes ago, jmk said:

I would also choose #1! Could you ask her now, so she could be mentally prepared/be able to give you an answer if she thinks she will be swamped? Seems like you have the most personal relationship with her. 

 

If I were to ask her now, it would have to be over email since I am off campus and won't see her until December in person- is that okay? If so, what should I say? I don't have GRE scores or a SOP to give her yet.

[Jolie717]

I asked all of my professors via email, didn't have my GRE yet or SOP.  They asked for a bio from me highlighting things that they didn't already know, and that was that!  Good luck to you!

[julianorts]

9 hours ago, Jolie717 said:

I asked all of my professors via email, didn't have my GRE yet or SOP.  They asked for a bio from me highlighting things that they didn't already know, and that was that!  Good luck to you!

Okay thanks! If she says she doesn't have time, I should go with the SLP that I know then?

[Dreamtobeslp]

I would go with the employer. Both professors you already have lined up can speak about you in the classroom and as a student. It would be more well rounded to have someone else speak about how great you are with other people and responsible you can be with real world tasks. That's just my opinion though. 

I had a professor, SLP I volunteer with and the private clinic owner where I did th majority of my shadowing write my lors. 

[Jolie717]

I would say yes, unless your boss for the camp has some really impressive credentials that have something to do with our field.  Yes, you will gain experience with kids, but most if not all applicants have this already.  Your shadowing the SLP speaks more to your interest in the field, especially if you got to help in therapy sessions, etc.