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Is it best to just ask a couple or ask a handful in case, for whatever reason, some don't work out? Also, I've seen mixed info on how many to get (2 or 3)?

brinicolec wrote:Is it best to just ask a couple or ask a handful in case, for whatever reason, some don't work out? Also, I've seen mixed info on how many to get (2 or 3)?

2 is generally fine - quality matters more than quantity here. Having a third optional LOR from a teacher/employer who didn't know you very well isn't going to do you any favors. As for how many you should ask, are you expecting some of them to flake out on you? If a professor commits to writing you a rec, then they're going to do it. Ask early, before the cycle opens, if you're unsure.

Ive only had one professor fail to write the letter of recommendation after agreeing too

Blueprint Mithun wrote:

brinicolec wrote:Is it best to just ask a couple or ask a handful in case, for whatever reason, some don't work out? Also, I've seen mixed info on how many to get (2 or 3)?

Ask early, before the cycle opens, if you're unsure.

This is super important. Ask super early to give them plenty of time to write them. 2 should be fine, but if you can get 3 that are all well written that won't hurt either.

Thanks all! I (unfortunately) bounced back and forth between a few majors so rarely had professors more than once and feel like I didn't really "bond" with many of them outside of the classroom (minus one I'm sure will be willing to write me a LoR). There's another professor I had my junior year (I just graduated this May) who I spoke to outside of the classroom setting about what I considered my existential crisis but, other than sending her an email sometime later thanking her (once again) for taking the time to talk to me, we didn't really keep in touch because I ended up changing my major. Do you all think she'd still be a good person to reach out to?

brinicolec wrote:Thanks all! I (unfortunately) bounced back and forth between a few majors so rarely had professors more than once and feel like I didn't really "bond" with many of them outside of the classroom (minus one I'm sure will be willing to write me a LoR). There's another professor I had my junior year (I just graduated this May) who I spoke to outside of the classroom setting about what I considered my existential crisis but, other than sending her an email sometime later thanking her (once again) for taking the time to talk to me, we didn't really keep in touch because I ended up changing my major. Do you all think she'd still be a good person to reach out to?

If you did well in her class then yes i would try to reach out to her

Another question regarding LOR: My freshman year, I was attending NYU (which I think is one of the top schools I want to get into) but ended up transferring. However, when I was attending NYU, I was part of my dorm's Hall Council and also was the team captain of my dorm's Relay for Life team. Basically, I was pretty active within the hall. I worked with the same person for both Hall Council and Relay and was thinking he'd be a good LoR for me because we spent so much time working together and he saw firsthand my planning skills and things of that nature. We ended up raising a record amount for our hall at Relay! I know he wasn't a professor of mine, but would it be okay for me to see if he'd write me a LoR?