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I'm looking at applying for 1L jobs over break and I was wondering about the proper protocol for asking for a reference from a professor. I was wondering if it would be bad form to email the professor asking if I can put them down as a reference. They aren't having open office hours since we are during finals and it doesn't make sense to email for an appointment to ask about a reference. Obviously I should have done this earlier in the semester...

Do you already know you your grades? I would wait till at least the professor knows that you did well before you ask. She might be more inclined to say yes if you did well, and her she'd obviously serve as a better reference too. The time crunch is real though, so I feel you.

Nope, won't get grades back until mid-Jan. And my concern is a lot of 1L positions have application deadlines prior to when we get our grades back.

If it's a class you participated in or engaged in office hours, I would say go for it before grades. I would try and stop by their office first and email if they aren't there though. If it's just a random teacher who won't recognize you, I would wait for your grades probably or at least find some way to ask in person so they have a face with your name.

No one is going to ask for these references, and if they do they almost certainly won't call them by the way, so don't worry too much about it.

Ask any professor you ever went to office hours to, or at least that knows your name. None of my 1L references were called during the 1L SA process (including by the firm that gave me an offer).