mrxmark

Step 9) Bribery in the most illegal way possible

undisclosed

Or alternatively,

Get a loosey-goosey professor to like you and then approach him during his busiest period. There's a slim chance he'll tell you to write the letter yourself email it to him.

CCG

The best way is to suck up suck up suck up, and then apologize for bothering them so much, show eagerness, humility, and gratefulness and youll be in it with every professor

amby262roy

wow very nice

jwlstn

The same questions will always get asked here because new (and many old even) members refuse to use the search function. There has to be a half dozen threads stating the exact same things you pointed out, yet 98% of CC it seems refuses to use the search function and will never know about them.

Anyways, the advice is nice but it's lacking a key element. Actually CARE about your professors and what they're teaching. If you go to their office hours every day just to BS with them, they are going to know what you're trying to do. Sucking up is entirely different than developing a good relationship with a prof. they definitely know the difference.

Tom711593

There's a lot of excellent info here on how to build relationships with profs in general, but does anyone have advice on how to go about the gritty details of getting them to write the rec. So assuming you've already gotten a top grade in their class, demonstrated exceptional and genuine interest in the field, gone to office hours a lot, participated in class, and so on...

1. How do you go about actually "popping the question"?
1.a How do you ask for the rec if you had an excellent relationship but it's been a semester or so since you last had a class or did research with that professor?

2. How likely is it that professors will be taken aback/insulted by your wanting to transfer (especially if you are trying to go from a decent school to an elite one)? Will they see it as status grubbing and/or betrayal of your school? In general, how enthusiastic is a professor going to be about helping one of his or her favorite students leave?

3. How do you tactfully give them pointers on what to put in the rec? Is it acceptable to ask to read the rec and then tell the recommender what to change to make your "case" stronger? I read in a law school application guide that you should ideally go out to lunch with the prof and explain why you want to transfer, what your broad goals are etc., and if possible get the professor to be "on your side" so that you and he/her are basically working together to get you in. Is that practical in real life?


Input from people who have recently been through this process themselves would be especially appreciated.

entomom

1. You make an appointment, bring the appropriate materials (form, website, deadlines, etc.) and just ask. If you feel comfortable, give some idea of your goals and why you think the transfer will further them. You can mention positives of where you want to transfer, and this can almost always be done without putting down your current school.
1a. Not much different, you might want to bring along some additional materials (eg. excellent paper you wrote in the class) and volunteer it as a reminder if the prof wants it.

2. They don't care, people transfer for a variety of reasons. In general, profs are professionals who will write you a LOR based on your performance, not extraneous factors. They will want to see their favorite student in a place where they are happy and will perform at their top potential.

3. You don't give them input on what to write unless they ask. No, don't ask them out to lunch, just make an appointment at their office. Profs are used to writing LORs for various reasons (transfer, jobs, internships, etc.), it's not new to them, so unless they ask you for comments, don't offer, that would be very overbearing and pretentious.

D transferred from a top public to top private a couple of years ago.

Tom711593

Thanks entomom. When I ask for an "appointment" do I tell him or her what it is about, or is email too impersonal for that?

entomom

Tom,
I'm not sure if you're referring to using email to make the appointment or to ask for the LOR. I think that emailing to set up an appointment is fine, and that it's OK to state that the purpose of the meeting is to request a LOR. But you should definitely sit down with the prof to discuss the LOR, and I think it's to your advantage to be able to express your intent and give them any information they need to write you a great LOR.

AndrewB2351

I have another question regarding asking about recommendations. The TA who I have for one of my classes is not actually a TA but a professor who has been teaching for something like 17 years at my college. This year, the math department (for some reason) tried something different and instead put him in charge of the recitation sessions. Would it be okay if I asked him for the recommendation rather than the actual professor of the course, since my "TA" is not an actual professor. I think that I may be able to get a better rec from him than from the professor whose lecture has some 300 students. I will still most likely do my best to make sure the professor knows me and such, but there is more of a chance the "TA" will know me more, as the TA sessions meet more often and are much much smaller. Any advice?

missamericanpie

@andrew

i used an internship coordinator instead of a professor for one of my two recommendations for NYU. it's worth it to use a "TA" if they will write a great recommendation for you. the internship coordinator wrote an amazing letter, i only saw it after she sent it to all of my schools (she let me read it).

(transferred in 2008)

pacificvista

I used to be as worried as everyone. I'm still nervous- not of the fact that I might be transferring but if they look at me and they're like "Why is he applying there?".But I've realized that there's no perfect way to ask. But its not a big deal. If the professor acts very defensive and hostile; you're better off asking someone else- but I don't think most will. They've been asked to write recommendations for hundreds even thousands of students, so I guess they would feel kind of over it by now.

entomom

andrew,
I agree with map, that you should get whoever you think knows you best and will write the best LOR for you, it doesn't matter what their title is.