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Grad school recommendation letters - Armadillo1 - 04-28-2025
For those that have moved on to grad school. How did you get recommendation letters for applications when speeding through a degree? I've taken 10 courses at UMPI. Only had 1 repeat professor and he's not even in my degree program. I did well in the 3 degree courses I took, and got great feedback from the 3 professors, but again, I only took 1 course from each of them and it feels strange to ask for a recommendation letter based off just that.
RE: Grad school recommendation letters - LevelUP - 04-28-2025
(04-28-2025, 09:21 AM)Armadillo1 Wrote: For those that have moved on to grad school. How did you get recommendation letters for applications when speeding through a degree? I've taken 10 courses at UMPI. Only had 1 repeat professor and he's not even in my degree program. I did well in the 3 degree courses I took, and got great feedback from the 3 professors, but again, I only took 1 course from each of them and it feels strange to ask for a recommendation letter based off just that.
The best approach is to contact the professor at the start of the course and explain that your goal is to pursue a Master's degree. Let the professor know that you would like to receive a recommendation letter if you perform well in the class, aiming for an A or at worst an A minus.
This way the professor will keep you in mind throughout the course and your chances of securing a recommendation letter will be much higher.
RE: Grad school recommendation letters - tdat314 - 04-28-2025
I had a similar situation after attending UMPI and not really connecting with most of the professors in a meaningful way. I asked my company's CEO and a few "senior" coworkers for LoR and they delivered pretty readily.
I believe that these letters were more meaningful for my acceptance to my grad program due to it being a field of work within the program and also having the LoR backed up by years of work experience at this same company.
RE: Grad school recommendation letters - Hotdogman1 - 04-28-2025
It does seem weird to request a recommendation letter since you haven't met the professor in person, but even in-person professors don't always have close connections with each and every student. I always had to provide additional information on top of the resume, masters program details, and essay questions. They may ask for career aspirations, study habits, hobbies, volunteer experience, etc. Basically, you need to help them help you.
- Complete your resume. My younger brother's career center recommends 2 pages since it's an "academic" resume but 1 page is fine too. Your resume doesn't have to look fancy.
- Complete the grad school essay questions if they are required. Even if they aren't required, you should write a couple small essays with your career aspirations, reason for wanting to go to grad school, reason for that specific major, etc. This is personal background information the professor could use as a reference.
- Check your local library and see if they offer any resume, cover letter, and/or interviewing services. If not, politely ask a librarian if they could give your resume and essays a grammar check. At the very least, the library should have a good generic resume template.
- Contact UMPI's Career Readiness Office. I unfortunately didn't think to utilize this service after I graduated, but the website states "From resume writing tips to internship opportunities to job interview skill building, we have a plan in place to help our graduates land their dream job." https://www.umpi.edu/offices/career-readiness/
- Send emails to professors you took classes from and ask whether they would be willing to write a recommendation letter. Introduce yourself, what course you took at which session, and details of the masters program. If they decline, politely thank them for their time. Do not become vitriolic. If they agree, thank them and send whatever information they need. I ended up not needing it, but I previously asked two UMPI BUS professors and they both agreed.
RE: Grad school recommendation letters - bjcheung77 - 04-30-2025
Basically, I would open up your options, it doesn't need to be anyone at UMPI, you can go with a high school reference, for example, your coach, your principal, academic advisor throughout the years, if it's the person you know for a while from high school, workplace supervisor, volunteering leader, etc, get them to be a reference. You want to mix/match academic with professional references... Good luck, have fun racking that brain for more options...