Letters of Recommendation Help

[apslp]

Hi everyone! I have been out of school for over a year (graduated May 2015) and will be applying for graduate school this Fall. For those of you who did not enter grad school immediately after college, how did you go about asking professors of letters of recommendation? During undergrad, one of my professors offered to write me a LoR and I have a few others in mind to ask. Unfortunately, due to my work schedule and my university being a few hours away, it would be difficult for me to go to campus to talk to them. I have heard that is it normal to email professors, how did y'all ask? I am also worried that I will contact them via email and get no response.. Thanks everyone!

[Auuudriana]

I emailed all of mine when I asked for my letters. They didn't seem to mind. 

[plume]

Yes, sending emails is appropriate, and yes, professors are used to this. Write a formal email reminding them of which classes you were in of theirs, and if there is anything in particular that would help them remember you. Let them know what you're applying for, clearly. My friend got an email back from a professor after many years out of school saying he did not think he was the best reference since he did not remember having him in class. However, my friend wrote an email back to the professor explaining his situation (that he had been out of school for some time) and why he felt he was the right professor to ask. I am not saying to get a LoR from someone who doesn't know you, but it shows that professors are aware of our varying situations and usually want to help!

[apslp]

Ok thanks. When would be the appropriate time to start asking? My applications are not officially open yet and are not due until January/February. I recall a professor saying that she required a minimum of 6 weeks notice. I was thinking of contacting my profs in September. When are y'all planning to reach out? 

[Speechster]

September is good. Don't wait till the last minute to ask professors/actually receive letters from proffesors. I would email again in around November if you email in September and have not received any letters. You don't want to get caught in the influx professors are going to get around that time. 

[thespeechblog.com]

On 8/15/2016 at 6:46 AM, paceslp said:

Hi everyone! I have been out of school for over a year (graduated May 2015) and will be applying for graduate school this Fall. For those of you who did not enter grad school immediately after college, how did you go about asking professors of letters of recommendation? During undergrad, one of my professors offered to write me a LoR and I have a few others in mind to ask. Unfortunately, due to my work schedule and my university being a few hours away, it would be difficult for me to go to campus to talk to them. I have heard that is it normal to email professors, how did y'all ask? I am also worried that I will contact them via email and get no response.. Thanks everyone!

You don't have to ask in person. If you were close with the professors, I would at least consider a phone call. If not, an email is perfectly acceptable! Just keep it formal and polite. Maybe remind the professor indirectly about your work in his/her class. 

As for when to ask, the sooner the better. I asked some professors in July. One professor who I was studying with at the time, I waited until mid to late September so she could see my work in the class and a few test scores first. 

[fuzzylogician]

13 hours ago, paceslp said:

Ok thanks. When would be the appropriate time to start asking? My applications are not officially open yet and are not due until January/February. I recall a professor saying that she required a minimum of 6 weeks notice. I was thinking of contacting my profs in September. When are y'all planning to reach out? 

You can email professors, that is perfectly fine. It's the middle of summer now so I would advise you to wait until about a week or two after the start of the semester at the professor's institution. The first week of the semester can be pretty crazy, but by the second week things will have calmed down enough that your request shouldn't get lost in a sea of more pressing emails. It's a good idea to give them 6-8 weeks notice, so if you do this by the end of September, you should be good. If you don't hear back, the thing to do is simply assume that the email has been lost and try again, after an appropriate amount of time has passed (I'd say 10-14 days after the first email).

By the time you email, it'd be good if you had a tentative list of schools you're applying to with deadlines. Offer to send them (a draft of) your SOP and other documents to assist in writing your letter. Also ask about setting up a reminder system: e.g. suggest that you will send a reminder two weeks before each deadline, then five days before and the day before if necessary. Establish this now, so you don't drive yourself crazy later when one of your recommenders inevitably waits until the last minute to get their LORs done. (All of this you should do only after you get a 'yes' for the request to write the letter.)

[plume]

I agree with fuzzylogician - many recommenders will want to see a draft of your SOP before writing a letter. They may also ask you if there is anything you need highlighted in your application, if they know you well enough. Be prepared to draft an SOP if this is the case. They know you are still in the process, but it helps them make your application cohesive.

I am not sure when you want to have everything submitted for your applications, but I would suggest asking for LoR in October to be safe. earlier wouldn't hurt, as another poster noted. Just politely remind them via email a couple of weeks before your deadlines if you haven't received anything yet.