May or may not be a stupid question...

[jaaaayciee]

I'm planning on applying this year for my Master's program (for the fall 2018 year). I plan on getting three letters of recommendation, and the professors who I plan on asking are ones that I've taken multiple classes with and will often try to see them outside of class, whether it's getting help in office hours, getting advice on other matters, or even working with them on separate projects.

I know that a majority of everything regarding graduate school needs letters of recommendation, so then with every school/fellowship program I apply to, does the professor write a letter for each individual program? Or is it just a broad letter that has an ambiguous use? I'm planning on applying to 5 programs, not including the fellowships I want to apply for as well and I would feel bad asking for the professor to write a letter again and again. Also, how much in advance should I ask them for letters? A month, or two?

[fuzzylogician]

1. They'll have one letter that they tweak for each school, but the big time sink is in writing the original draft, not so much in the tweaking. In any event, this is part of their job, and you shouldn't feel bad asking. You should express your gratitude, be polite and helpful, and give them enough notice.

2. I'd say ask about 6-8 weeks before your earliest deadline. If you're already talking to them about grad school, you might mention much earlier on that you plan to apply and hope that they'd agree to write a letter on your behalf. Then you just follow up later, once you have more information (precise list of schools, deadlines, materials to help them craft their letter).

[jaaaayciee]

21 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

1. They'll have one letter that they tweak for each school, but the big time sink is in writing the original draft, not so much in the tweaking. In any event, this is part of their job, and you shouldn't feel bad asking. You should express your gratitude, be polite and helpful, and give them enough notice.

2. I'd say ask about 6-8 weeks before your earliest deadline. If you're already talking to them about grad school, you might mention much earlier on that you plan to apply and hope that they'd agree to write a letter on your behalf. Then you just follow up later, once you have more information (precise list of schools, deadlines, materials to help them craft their letter).

What type of materials do you think would help them craft the letter? Like key essays and stuff?

[fuzzylogician]

Depends on what they ask for, but potentially your SOP, CV, transcripts, your writing sample, a short description of why each school you're applying for a good fit, a bullet-point list of what you might want the letter to include. Not everyone will want all of those documents, but if you offer they might take you up on it, and that would be a way to make sure they say what you want them to. 

[meep95]

6 minutes ago, jaaaayciee said:

What type of materials do you think would help them craft the letter? Like key essays and stuff?

 

My major actually has a LOR form because so many students continue to grad school, which includes what classes you have taken in your major and what grade you got, who your advisor is, your future goals and plans, and typically attach a resume or CV so they know any specific publications or field related stuff.  Additionally, if you have a professor who can found for something that you got a low GRE score on it is always helpful.  For example, my quant GRE score was not the greatest but a professor who taught me some math related subject and who I did research with mentioned in her letter that the score was not representative of my ability.