Who should I choose for LORs? Forum

[NCtoDC]

So, I know there are threads upon threads in regard to this question; however, I have a special set of circumstances.

I have been working full time since I was 16 years old (I am currently 26). I got my degree from UMUC-online. I know some of you don't think that an online degree is worth the paper it is printed on, but that is not at issue here, leave the comments to yourself. I graduated Aug. 2009.

Having taken nearly every class online, and those that weren't taken online were taken at least 3 years ago, I do not have a special relationship with any professor. Today, I sent out an email to the professor of my capstone course, which I was in Spring of 2009 ( I made an A in the class and also had a memorable group project, due to the fact that a member had plagiarized their section and we called him on it 2 days before the due date!). He sent me back the "I'm terribly busy, write one and I'll give you the recommendation" response. I don't have high hopes of the other professor, from the same Spring semester, writing back with a different response. The truth is that online, unless you are struggling and asking questions all the time, the prof is not going to remember you well enough to write a good LOR.

So, with my vast amounts of work experience, would it be best to have two LORs from employers? Or, should I use one from a prof, even if it means writing one for myself and have one from an employer?

[gdane]

Its recommended to have a letter from an academic, someone that can directly speak of your academic abilities. However, since you took online courses this is a problem. Try to get one from an academic and if not get them from employers. The truth is that Letters of Rec matter very little. Schools just want to see that at least a few people can say nice things about you. Get a good LSAT score and none of this matters.

Good luck!

[StrictlyLiable]

Its recommended to have a letter from an academic, someone that can directly speak of your academic abilities. However, since you took online courses this is a problem. Try to get one from an academic and if not get them from employers. The truth is that Letters of Rec matter very little. Schools just want to see that at least a few people can say nice things about you. Get a good LSAT score and none of this matters.

Good luck!

The bad thing is, although they don't matter, it can hurt you by the fact you don't have the experience of academics recommenders from the classroom.

[094320]

..

[calbears619]

You could try and get a hold from a professor from an in-person class you took 3 years ago as long as those classes were part of your major. It doesn't really matter if they don't remember you if you can meet with them and give them something you wrote for their class.

[03121202698008]

OP, I also had an online degree. I e-mailed some of my past professors and included papers I had written for their courses so they could see the quality of my work if they wished. I had no problem finding people to write academic LORs. I'm sure my employment ones were way stronger but you want someone to speak to your academic work. I was fortunate that several of my professors had JDs so they understood the importance and what they needed to say.

[03121202698008]

I remember finding this one user on LSN once that severely underperformed his numbers--turns out it was because he went to an online school. Regardless of what anyone on here thinks of those schools, it seems that admissions officers weren't particularly fond of them. I'm guessing he probably had the same problem as you did. Not sure what you should do -- writing your own just seems weird (I'd feel weird writing "acrossthelake was a great student in the classroom. She outperformed her peers...." ...I would just feel uncomfortable singing praises of opinion about myself). I might just go with the employer LORs if you can't get a professor to write one for you.

I have an online degree and I performed as my numbers said I should. Some schools, such as U of Phoenix are widely seen as paper mills. UMUC is not one of them. I'm not even sure OP's diploma would say it was online. UMUC is part of the University of Maryland.

[NCtoDC]

OP, I also had an online degree. I e-mailed some of my past professors and included papers I had written for their courses so they could see the quality of my work if they wished. I had no problem finding people to write academic LORs. I'm sure my employment ones were way stronger but you want someone to speak to your academic work. I was fortunate that several of my professors had JDs so they understood the importance and what they needed to say.

I suppose I will put out feelers to a few other profs in hopes of one actually consenting to writing one. I know my employer LOR is going to be stellar.

FYI, my diploma does not indicate that my degree was online...nor does the transcript. It will be quite obvious however, simply from the geographical difference in where I was working vs. where the school is located.

Unfortunately for me, the in person classes I did take were core classes like math and foreign language. Plus, I don't live in the area in which I took them anymore so a personal meeting would be impossible.

Just in defense of online degrees...if you have never taken a class online, it is very difficult unless you are a highly self-motivated person, to do good. Our exams are proctored, not taken online, and are very real. If you don't discipline yourself and read the text you will not do well. Top that with the fact that most online degree seekers work full-time and have families and you have a full plate.

[JoePaternoYoDaddy]

Get one from your mom she can talk about how difficult it was giving birth to a big piece of shit like you lol lol

[vanwinkle]

Get one from your mom she can talk about how difficult it was giving birth to a big piece of shit like you lol lol

This dude's been banned.