Monday, October 12, 1998
‘To whom it may concern…’
Asking a professor for a recommendation
can be one of the toughest parts of the transfer or grad
school admissions process, but they can be just as valuable as
good grades.
By Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Contributor
When Zoraida Rossi was applying to transfer from Mount San
Antonio College to UCLA last year, she needed to ask one of her
professors to write her a letter of recommendation. While this was
a standard part of the application process, Rossi admitted she was
worried about approaching her teacher.
‘It was intimidating,’ the third-year sociology student said. ‘I
really wasn’t sure what she was going to put in the letter.’
But Rossi’s anxiety was all for nothing. Her professor wrote her
an outstanding letter that exceeded her expectations.
‘I was amazed with what she wrote,’ Rossi said. ‘I was very glad
I asked her.’
Rossi’s apprehension in asking for a reference letter is not
uncommon among her peers. Most college students face the
intimidating task of approaching their esteemed professors to ask
for a letter of recommendation, now a requirement for most
internships, scholarships and graduate schools they might be
applying to.
While asking for a reference may seem like one of the faster
sections of an application to complete  compared to raising
that GPA, studying for standardized tests and building resumes
 it can sometimes be one of the most difficult and
frustrating obstacles to hurdle.
Many questions can arise when it comes to getting a reference
letter: Who to ask? And when? What if he or she says no? Will it be
a good letter? Will my professor remember who I am? How important
is a recommendation letter?
Sharif Sawires, the coordinator of the Pre-Professional Advising
Office in the College of Letters & Science, encounters these
questions and many more as he and other advisors counsel students
about the difficult application process of professional
schools.
According to Sawires, the recommendation letter is an incredibly
integral part of the application and has the potential to
distinguish a student from a pool of candidates.
‘In an applicant pool, the vast majority (of applicants) have
the same academic profile with similar grades and test scores,’
Sawires said. ‘But the letter of recommendation distinguishes the
student’s maturity and thinking. It communicates the skills that
the admissions officer can’t readily see and detect in the
application.’
One of the most troubling questions for students regarding
recommendation letters is figuring out who to ask. According to
Sawires, the best professors to approach are the ones students have
already developed relationships with.
‘Just getting an A in a professor’s class is not going to get
you a good recommendation letter,’ he said. ‘You need to interact
with the professor closely and nurture the relationship early
on.’
But because of the large size of most classes, many students and
professors find it difficult to develop the kind of relationships
ideal for recommendation letters. Students may be apprehensive
about asking professors who they aren’t close to, and professors in
turn might be reluctant to endorse students they don’t even
remember.
Some professors will decline a letter request if they feel they
do not know the student well enough to recommend them.
Brian Walker, assistant professor in the political science
department, only agrees to write letters for students he can
wholeheartedly stand behind.
‘If a student gets a low grade in the class, I can’t say all
that much positive about them,’ Walker said. ‘And if I have no idea
who they are, then I can’t do it. I have to be honest and
rigorously straightforward when I write these letters.’
Others, however, are more open to writing letters for students
they are unfamiliar with, pointing out the difficulty of getting to
know their students when their class enrollment can balloon up to
500.
Roger Bohman, a lecturer in the molecular, cell and
developmental biology department, honors almost all of his
requests. He says he knows that if his students had somewhere else
to go, they would. In order to help him write the letters, he
usually asks for a copy of their personal statements that usually
go along with their applications.
‘It’s difficult because I have no real intimate contact with the
vast majority of them,’ Bohman said. ‘I hardly know them and it’s
hard to take time to get to know them.’
But there are students who are determined to acquaint themselves
with their professors, no matter how large the class.
Rossi made an effort to differentiate herself from her
classmates by staying after class, inquiring about any research
projects her professors were involved in, and then asking if she
could participate as well.
‘You have to stand out from the crowd and find out what their
interests are,’ Rossi said. ‘Then they can get to know who you are
and what potential you could have.’
Sam Sayani, a fourth-year psychobiology major, followed the same
approach, which helped him immensely when asking for letters for
medical school. Not only did his professors know what he was like
inside the classroom, but they also got to know him as a
person.
‘I tried to give them a sense of who I was outside of school,’
Sayani said.
‘But I also tried to convey my reasons for going into medicine.
It lets them know who you really are.’
While some students may feel hurt or offended if a professor
declines to write them a recommendation letter  in most
cases, the student is better off finding someone else.
‘They’re probably doing you a favor,’ Walker said. ‘You don’t
want a professor who’s going to write you a letter that will stab
you in the back.’
Bohman recalled a student of his who nearly ran into just that
kind of problem.
‘One student was arguing with me about a grade I had given him
and we got into a verbal assault,’ he said. ‘Ten minutes later, the
student came back asking for a letter of recommendation.’
According to Sawires, the trick is finding a professor who will
not only say yes, but will write a letter that will accomplish the
goal of highlighting a student’s qualifications and potential.
‘Most professors realize the importance of these letters,’ he
said. ‘When approached by a sincere student they know, the vast
majority are more than willing to do it.’
Comments, feedback, problems?
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