<p>I’m currently a freshman and want to apply for this school sponsored scholarship opened to everyone. anyways, I need several recommendation letters. Now, I’m pretty sure that asking for a college professor’s rec is differnt from high school’s. Since I’ve only taken one semester of ANY class, I believe that almost no professor knows me personally. What should I do? Do you think that I should still ask them for a rec?</p>
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You should realize that time is slipping by and 1 out of the 8 semesters you’ll spend in college is already gone. And you should resolve to do something about getting to know profs …</p>
<p>Every prof has office hours. They’re sitting there, every week, waiting for students to come by. Its not like they’re your buddies, they’re serious academics, but if you attend office hours the profs will have a chance to get to know you and your diligence in pursuing academics. This is what belongs in a letter of rec, and you had 14 weeks to get it.</p>
<p>Yes, mikemac is right. Get to know your professors. Especially your advisor. My advisor was also my professor for two courses so I got to know him really well and he saw my effort and dedication to academics in those two courses (as well as seeing my transcript each semester). All it takes is sitting after a class sometimes and talk to him briefly about whatever. Show that you care (if you do, lol). You see other students do it all the time. I did the same with my philosophy professor. A group of us would sit down after class and just talk to him about the topic discussed in class more, but that was mainly because I was actually interested in talking more about the topic usually.</p>
<p>but if the professor does write a lukewarm letter, what would it be about?</p>
<p>Who knows. Usually they send the letters directly to the person you want them to write to and thus you never see what the letter says anyway.</p>
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Something like “ecner took my history 12 class the fall semester of 2005 and received an A.” And maybe a sentence or two about what the class covered.</p>
<p>Contrast that to a letter from a prof who actually knew the student talking about a student’s enthusiasm for the subject, his seeking out extra material, and the observation “Joe is one of the best students I’ve seen come along in 20 years of teaching at X” </p>
<p>You tell me, which letter makes a better impression?</p>
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<p>what about getting TA’s to write recommendations?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend doing that. Stick with professors.</p>
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<p>If he has no other choice, and the TA is more acquainted with him, the TA’s rec is better. </p>
<p>Generally, though, a professor’s recommendation ranks higher than a TA’s, assuming you spent the requisite time acquainting yourself with the professor.</p>