Asking for a Recommendation; Did I do something wrong?

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>So a few weeks ago, I decided to email my writing professor to ask him for a letter of recommendation for this hospital volunteer position that I want, (I plan to go into forensic science or pathology).</p>

<p>Anyway, I figured he would be a good person to ask since I received an A in his class which I took over the summer (it’s rare that I get anything above a B/B+/A- so I was super excited) and because I had thought that I had made a good enough impression… I was never late to class and missed no more than the allotted number of classes. Plus he had been nice to me, although in general he is a sort of sarcastic and critical person.</p>

<p>I sent him the following email: </p>

<p>Hi Professor,</p>

<p>I hope your summer was restful. I am looking to volunteer at [name removed] hospital in order to occupy myself with a rewarding volunteering experience and also to explore the medical profession in hopes of gaining insight as to my compatibility with such a field. </p>

<p>The hospital requires two recommendation letters/reference forms for each volunteer. Thus, I would like to know if you would be willing to write a recommendation for me. There is a simple form to fill out and additional comments can be provided if desired. </p>

<p>If you would be willing to do this, I can either email you the form or stop by to provide you with a hard copy of it, which may then be either faxed or mailed to the hospital. The deadline is October 3rd, (apologies for the short notice). </p>

<p>Please let me know if you would be willing to do this, and I appreciate your taking the time to consider my inquiry. </p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>I sent that email on September 11th and never got a reply. </p>

<p>Did I say something awkward or was I rude in my email? I suffer from a few mental illnesses including social anxiety disorder so when someone ignores me like this it causes a lot of pain and self-criticism and I become very distracted. </p>

<p>What do you guys think went wrong??</p>

<p>I really don’t see anything wrong with your email. Maybe he hasn’t checked his email box, is on leave etc. If I were you I would just ask someone else just in case.
Good luck :)</p>

<p>Professors are busy and can literally receive hundreds of emails every day. It’s easy for something to slip through. Did you use a good subject line that signaled an email requiring action on the professor’s part (“letter of recommendation”)? Did you follow up when you hadn’t heard back after a week? (Preferably in person!) </p>

<p>Another thing that could have easily gone wrong is that your professor may not remember your name. You didn’t identify yourself in the email and it doesn’t sound like you were particularly close to this professor. </p>

<p>In the unlikely event that your professor has quit academia, he may not check his school email address or feel obliged to follow up on letters of recommendation requests.</p>

<p>Also unlikely but possible is that your professor is too pre-occupied with personal events to follow up on emails. </p>

<p>Another more likely explanation is that your professor is just disorganized and doesn’t care. I know a couple of professors whose standard recommendation was one generic paragraph (the same for all students), submitted two weeks after the deadline. He may just not care.</p>

<p>Your mistake: should’ve asked for a recommendation in person.</p>

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I of course did include my name in the actual email and also added an appropriate subject line. Since there were only 18 students in our class, my professor knew me very well (it was a req writing seminar, and we even had one-on-one meetings and I spoke very often in class). Also, he responded to emails immediately when I had questions during the semester, so I thought he would respond to this one as well. He’s one of those very tech-savvy professors.</p>

<p>I have seen him around campus too so I think he just ignored my email for no reason and I don’t understand why…</p>

<p>I don’t think you did anything wrong in your letter. Having been a professor, maybe I can give some insight. When did the semester start relative to Sept. 11? If classes just started that week, it is quite possible the professor is dealing with a lot of requests from his current semester students and it just fell through the cracks. It would be OK at this point, since it has been 2 weeks, to gently remind him/ask again. </p>

<p>Your letter is OK and to the point, but I think if you have an opportunity like this in the future, I would make it a little less all about you, especially the first paragraph. It takes a long time to write letters of recommendation and is all the more difficult if one doesn’t know a student well. I would have started out the letter reminding him who you are and telling him (without going overboard) why you enjoyed his class. Then tell him that you would like a letter. Say that you realize that writing them takes time out of his busy schedule, that it is very short notice, and how grateful you would be. Supply him with some material to work from, like a resume, a list of other classes you are taking, your intended major, etc. In other words, make it easy for him! (I would have supplied him with a copy of the form, so he could have seen how simple or complicated it is first hand – it is one less step for him this way.)</p>

<p>At this point, since Oct. 3 is next week, you need to either bite the bullet and contact him again, or quickly find someone else to do it. Go by his office hours and bring the form along with your resume and ask him again. The worst he can say is no, he can’t do it by Oct 3. He will probably say yes, though, and feel bad he did not respond to you.</p>

<p>And once he does write the letter, be sure to write a thank you note!</p>

<p>Good luck with this!</p>

<p>Why don’t you simply stop by the professor’s office and ask for a recommendation face-to-face? You’re right there on campus. This is a more direct and mature way to ask a professor for a recommendation. </p>

<p>Also, doesn’t it make more sense to ask one of your lab science professors for a recommendation for an internship that is related to your interest in science?</p>

<p>You’re supposed to ask professors in person. Why should he take the time to write your recommendation if you won’t even take the time to stop by his office?</p>

<p>I don’t necessarily agree that you are “supposed” to ask in person. It sort-of puts the person you are asking on the spot! I would personally prefer an email message over an in person request.</p>

<p>If one is on campus, it is proper to meet with the professor to ask for a recommendation. This gives you a face-to-face opportunity to discuss the internship as well as what one hopes to gain from the internship. It also puts a face to the name.</p>

<p>If one is off campus such as during an academic break, away for a semester, or recently graduated, it is perfectly acceptable to email or phone the professor. </p>

<p>It is acceptable for a professor to suggest to the student that he/she should ask another professor if said professor doesn’t have any recollection of the student or doesn’t feel comfortable writing the recommendation. Saying “no” or suggesting the student ask someone else is not to be taken as a personal rejection by the student. Any mature person over the age of 18 should recognize this fact.</p>