Whom Should I Ask for LOR No.2?
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:15 am
Hi all,
I was hoping you could help me decide which of my professors I should request my second academic letter of recommendation from. I was going to do just one professor from my major and then my boss, but I am realizing I do really need a second academic one. So I have a few options, and am not sure which one to go with -- any advice would be helpful.
Prof. A -- also from my major. I would prefer to have people from different departments, but this guy knows me best of the three options. I took two classes with him -- sophomore year I got a B, below the median for that class, and kind of hated his teaching style, but it was for a class about as far away from his area of expertise as possible within my department. Senior year, I took his class in his area, loved it, got an A (above median for that class), and have been in contact with him since. I still have all of my assignments from that class, and the paper I wrote for Prof. B's class (see below) used the things I learned from Prof. A. Since my major was so small, he knows me pretty well, and can talk about my involvement in the department, though of course the guy writing my first LOR can do that also. Also, he was a visiting prof., so he is no longer at my alma mater, though I still have his contact info.
Prof B. -- I only took one class, an advanced logic class, with him. There were only 11 people in the class though, and it was my senior spring, so hopefully he will know who I am. We had two exams which I did not do particularly well on, but he really loved my final paper, which worked in the material from Prof. A's class. I'm not sure what else he'd say about me, though, and I haven't been in touch with him since I graduated. My grade was at the median for the class, but it was a small class full of Phil majors, so everyone did pretty well.
Prof. C. -- took her class senior spring for a distrib and ended up loving it. I did well on all of her exams, she liked my papers, and we have emailed a little bit (I emailed her to let her know about something we learned in her class showing up in pop culture), but, like B, she does not know much about me outside of class. Also, even though I got an A, there was a bit of a mix-up which resulted in her not getting my final paper until a day late, so she might think I'm irresponsible? Hope not! My work for the class was good, but I would not say any of it is stuff I am particularly proud of, like the paper for Prof. B's class is.
As you can see, none of my options are all that great. Either the guy who knows me best but might be repetitive, or two people who could say moderately good things about me but didn't really know me outside of class at all. To add to the fun, I am now 500 miles from my college, and even if I did travel there, the professors won't even be around until late September, so I have to request these by email.
Anyway, if you get through all this and have time for a quick reply, thanks!
I was hoping you could help me decide which of my professors I should request my second academic letter of recommendation from. I was going to do just one professor from my major and then my boss, but I am realizing I do really need a second academic one. So I have a few options, and am not sure which one to go with -- any advice would be helpful.
Prof. A -- also from my major. I would prefer to have people from different departments, but this guy knows me best of the three options. I took two classes with him -- sophomore year I got a B, below the median for that class, and kind of hated his teaching style, but it was for a class about as far away from his area of expertise as possible within my department. Senior year, I took his class in his area, loved it, got an A (above median for that class), and have been in contact with him since. I still have all of my assignments from that class, and the paper I wrote for Prof. B's class (see below) used the things I learned from Prof. A. Since my major was so small, he knows me pretty well, and can talk about my involvement in the department, though of course the guy writing my first LOR can do that also. Also, he was a visiting prof., so he is no longer at my alma mater, though I still have his contact info.
Prof B. -- I only took one class, an advanced logic class, with him. There were only 11 people in the class though, and it was my senior spring, so hopefully he will know who I am. We had two exams which I did not do particularly well on, but he really loved my final paper, which worked in the material from Prof. A's class. I'm not sure what else he'd say about me, though, and I haven't been in touch with him since I graduated. My grade was at the median for the class, but it was a small class full of Phil majors, so everyone did pretty well.
Prof. C. -- took her class senior spring for a distrib and ended up loving it. I did well on all of her exams, she liked my papers, and we have emailed a little bit (I emailed her to let her know about something we learned in her class showing up in pop culture), but, like B, she does not know much about me outside of class. Also, even though I got an A, there was a bit of a mix-up which resulted in her not getting my final paper until a day late, so she might think I'm irresponsible? Hope not! My work for the class was good, but I would not say any of it is stuff I am particularly proud of, like the paper for Prof. B's class is.
As you can see, none of my options are all that great. Either the guy who knows me best but might be repetitive, or two people who could say moderately good things about me but didn't really know me outside of class at all. To add to the fun, I am now 500 miles from my college, and even if I did travel there, the professors won't even be around until late September, so I have to request these by email.
Anyway, if you get through all this and have time for a quick reply, thanks!