2017 from letters of intent to letters of recommendation

[thatonefilipinogirl]

Long story short: 

SLPA. finished undergrad last may 2015. attempting to apply and hopefully get into one next year. 

 

I am stumped with writing letters of intent, and honestly, i really was trying to avoid looking at others' so that my letters wouldn't be affected by what I have read. However, I am stuck. I would very much appreciate it if any of you could let me take a peek at your letters of intent, of course only if you don't mind. Or any tips at all that has helped you get into grad school. 

also, I am having a bit of a problem with letters of recommendation because I feel like I did not make much of a connection with professors because I was the type to try and solve a question on my own, or through google, because I had to travel 1 hour or more just to get home.. so I usually tried to avoid office hours, if I could help it.. If you were ever in the similar position, what did you do? or were there other people that you were able to ask, and still got into grad school?

 

Any tips are very very very much appreciated!!

[wcslp]

I'm not sure if other current applicants would be willing to let you read their letters because they are supposed to be demonstrating why you stand out as an individual. It would probably be better to write a draft and have your supervisor or someone read over it and offer you some suggestions. Alternatively, you can ask someone on these forums or other SLP help forums to read over your paper and give you some advice. What exactly are you stuck on? Some programs have specific criterion/prompts they want you to write about; most typically just want you to explain why SLP and why you. 

It will be tough if you did not make a connection with professors because a lot of schools want at least 2 letters from academic sources (at least on the west coast). You don't want to risk asking a professor who does not know you to write a letter and have it say negative things. Your supervisor is a good, relevant source. Check with the programs you are applying to and see whether they require academic letters or general letters. There are also some programs out there that don't require any LOR at all, but you will have to search for these and they aren't the norm.

Not to scare you, but I assume you are applying this cycle. Most program deadlines are December/January. If you want feedback on your letter of intent, I suggest you get started on it ASAP so whoever reads over it has enough time to do so. Same with asking for letters of rec. If you are going to reach out to any professors, you should do so immediately. I emailed all of my potential writers in early September as most of them are swamped with letter requests in the later months and will likely turn you down if you email them last minute. 

Edited November 21, 2016 by wcslp

[thatonefilipinogirl]

18 hours ago, wcslp said:

I'm not sure if other current applicants would be willing to let you read their letters because they are supposed to be demonstrating why you stand out as an individual. It would probably be better to write a draft and have your supervisor or someone read over it and offer you some suggestions. Alternatively, you can ask someone on these forums or other SLP help forums to read over your paper and give you some advice. What exactly are you stuck on? Some programs have specific criterion/prompts they want you to write about; most typically just want you to explain why SLP and why you. 

It will be tough if you did not make a connection with professors because a lot of schools want at least 2 letters from academic sources (at least on the west coast). You don't want to risk asking a professor who does not know you to write a letter and have it say negative things. Your supervisor is a good, relevant source. Check with the programs you are applying to and see whether they require academic letters or general letters. There are also some programs out there that don't require any LOR at all, but you will have to search for these and they aren't the norm.

Not to scare you, but I assume you are applying this cycle. Most program deadlines are December/January. If you want feedback on your letter of intent, I suggest you get started on it ASAP so whoever reads over it has enough time to do so. Same with asking for letters of rec. If you are going to reach out to any professors, you should do so immediately. I emailed all of my potential writers in early September as most of them are swamped with letter requests in the later months and will likely turn you down if you email them last minute. 

Thank you so much for your response! I am honestly scared though, even without your message, but it is definitely a much needed additional push. I don't have specific questions right now regarding the letters of intent since schools differ in some aspects, but definitely plan on working on them asap.