Applicants can't get letters of recommendation from desired sources

“So I didn’t realize up until today that you should ask wayyyy in advance for a letter of recommendation from a teacher (ik I probably should’ve reasoned that one out earlier but here we are). I’m going to ask two teachers for letters tomorrow but the issue is that ive got a lot of college deadlines coming up on November 1st (& a few on the 2nd). I was thinking of pushing these back to a regular decision but feel I might be risking my application by not applying early action even though I’ve”

“hi everyone! i'm a junior and recently decided to take a gap year. it's been a little rough because my timeline has changed a bit as a result, especially in terms of rec letters. i have a prof from soph yr that i really want to ask for a rec from, as they know me very well. most classes i've had were so big but this prof's class had less people, so it was easier for me to make myself known. i really think this prof would write a good rec for me, but i am worried that they may for”

“If I have a teacher who’s main involvement and understanding of me revolved around my participation in a school club and activities in that club outside of school, should i have them as an other recommender or as an optional teacher recommender? (the reason i don’t have them as a required recommender is because they didn’t teach me any core classes, only electives) submitted by /u/Fit_Scheme_4368 [link] [comments]”

“I’m trying to figure out college applications, but I don't have anyone who can write a strong recommendation letter. The main reason for this is that, for most of high school, I’ve been really struggling with my mental health, so I haven’t been able to do enough or make connections with anyone. I’m not sure what to do. I’m looking for any suggestions or knowledge on how to handle this. submitted by /u/Stanley9717 [link] [comments]”

“Hi guys! Recently tried to get a letter of recommendation I need for medical school from a non-science professor I had about two years ago. I emailed him about a month ago asking for the letter, and he replied the same day saying he remembered me and would be honored to. I proceeded to send the link to the dossier portal service from an external email and put a custom prompt thanking him, and set the due date for like September 30th. I never actually replied to the initial email thread and thoug”

“Hey everyone! I know a few schools offer the opportunity to submit a letter of recommendation from a non-teacher/counselor. Over the summer, I completed a research internship as part of a t100 university. However, it is ran by their College of Engineering Ambassadors who are still undergrads. Would it be invalid if I reach out to the internship lead for an LOR because he is technically still in the process of completing his undergrad? I don't know if there is particularly a standard of age o”

“i have two rec letters from "optional recommenders" and two schools allow only one letter. here are my options my volunteer supervisor whom i have had many personal convos with. i am basically friends with her since we regularly call, text, and discuss my ambitions. she seems to think i am the smartest person in the world and knows a lot about me. we have a very personal connection and she even knows my parents. however, she has never really written a rec letter before and is kind of u”

“Does JHU allow sending an additional rec letter from a mentor outside of school? submitted by /u/YesterdayExciting768 [link] [comments]”

submitted by /u/FabledBee [link] [comments]

“I'm applying to nyu and fordham and where it says teachers in the recommenders section it says 2 optional does it mean I can have 2 letter max? or can I get 3? because i was sure i can get 3 max and i already asked 3 teachers... and added 2 of them... do i remove one of them from one of the schools?? what do i do?? like one is my homeland teacher who knows me well, and then there's my english teacher (I'm not from the us so i think it's important) and my theater teacher... and I&”

“are the letters of rec individual to every school I'm applying to? like the ones that I sent to NYU don't get sent to other schools right? alao what's the difference between the recommender and teachers on the recommend ers section?? submitted by /u/lvcygraybaird [link] [comments]”

“okay so one of the teachers i asked for a recommendation letter from has us fill out this form about ourselves and i was able to figure everything out except the one that asks us to describe what we contributed to the class. idk why i contributed to the class i was too shy to participate half the time but i had a great relationship with the teacher. what do i do😔 submitted by /u/Ok-Operation6537 [link] [comments]”

“I was planning to apply to college this cycle as an international student but I've been out of high school for four years and I'm stuck on who to ask for recommendation letters. My high school grades are strong but going back to my old teachers doesn't feel right, I've changed a lot since then and I doubt they even remember me after all this time. I've been working in sales so I thought about asking my former boss, she knew me best and saw my progress when I got promoted to m”

“I submitted my application and assigned my teacher as a recommender through Common App. I’ve reminded her multiple times, but I think she may be having some issues and I have no control over when she submits it. My question is, do colleges wait until the deadline to review my application because they’re waiting for the recommendation letter, or can they start reviewing it before then? I’d like my application to be reviewed as soon as possible, even if the recommendation is still pending. s”

“For context, Im planning on applying EA. Lets take Georgia Tech, Purdue, and UIUC as examples. I still havent talked to any teachers about letters of recommendations. Should I still do it or is it too late? I heard from somewhere you should ask 2 months before the deadline, but I only have 23-25 days. Would they make a big difference or are they negligible? submitted by /u/aaaa__12345 [link] [comments]”

“i asked my english teacher form junior year to write me a letter of recommendation for my college applications and i gave her all the materials she needed recently (so early october) im not completely sure if i want to apply early decision anywhere but if i did my earliest deadline would be november 15th. we talked about her writing it for me early september. did i give her enough time? it’s like roughly 6 weeks i should’ve been more on top of it, there’s just been so much going on lately.”

submitted by /u/fuqit_immagetmyxanax [link] [comments]

“Hi everyone, I’m applying to programs and need letters of recommendation. Before adding/registering professors as recommenders in the application portals, I emailed three professors asking if they would be willing to write a recommendation letter for me. So far, none of them have replied, and I’m starting to wonder if I did something wrong or if I should just wait longer. -In two emails, my subject line was “Letter of Recommendation Request – Academic.” -In the other two, I accidentally wrote “A”

“Some background about me, I'm about to graduate with my masters in clinical mental health counseling. I have 11 years of experience working in psychiatric hospital settings and am about 9 months into my internship as a therapist. I have 1 professor in mind to ask and was planning to ask my supervisor at my internship. I also have a colleague I worked closely with for 7 years who has his psy.d and works as a psychologist at one of the hospitals I worked in. He graduated from one of the progra”

“Planning on applying in June, so going into my final two semesters before applying, how many rec letters should I plan to have? Currently, I can get strong rec letters from one of my Bio professors (also happens to be the program director) who I've worked closely with, my PI (neuroscience faculty), and the physician that I was an MA under. Is that enough or should I look to get 1-2 more? Secondary question, do I need a non-science LOR? I can get one from a faculty member that kinda sits in t”

“I was just wondering if counselor/teacher recs can be submitted past the deadline of the free application week? My school requires you to fill out a form updating your counselor on which schools you're EA so they can submit letters on time, however, I'm unsure whether this SUNY deal counts as EA? There's no deadline for recs mentioned anywhere submitted by /u/Ok_Implement_9863 [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone! I am currently in the college app trenches right now. As for my primary letter of recs, I have asked my anatomy teacher and my club sponser to write a letter. I was hoping if anyone could help me decide if I should ask a PhD student/candidate that I worked closely with for two years (one week each at the lab itself) to write one as well. They are someone who I worked one on one with within the one week I was with the lab each year! I'm not sure as the professor I worked with is”

“Was in community college 2020-22 before transferring to a university and finishing my BA in history in 2024. I'm working on grad school applications and have a couple rec letters from history professors secured, but my third prof (who has written a rec letter for me before but is kinda weird) isn't responding, so I'm looking into reaching out to a philosophy prof during my time at community college. I took 3 of his classes and he wrote a very generous rec letter during my transfer pr”

“worried about counselor rec letters cuz i think our school might just uses a template 😭 . also the brag sheet questions were super weird so idt i filled them out super well submitted by /u/Similar_Advisor_5849 [link] [comments]”

“I accidentally saw my rec letter from my internship advisor (other recommender). I signed the ferpa waiver but she accidentally put it in a folder of mine and I read it already. It's about 3 paragraphs and does really go into detail about what I ever did with her. She basically just said she's been working with me for years and I've had leadership roles and then a paragraph about good traits of mine and how I have a genuine commitment to my major and then a sentence about how she&#39”

“I am starting to foster relationships with my PI, volunteer coordinator and physicians etc. it’s just that I am unsure if I will be able to get killer letters from all of them and also my professors. Do you guys know what the average lor lists look for an applicant and how many of them are actual strong letters? submitted by /u/TomorrowExtension345 [link] [comments]”

“Been out of undergrad for 7 years. Where do letters of rec come from this far removed from college? Thanks submitted by /u/DrMrSirJr [link] [comments]”

“I was wondering what people on here think about rec letters, my professor says for PhD admission (this is for psych) I should have them all from people with PhD's, however, the third professor who I was going to ask write a letter of rec for me left (I believe she got fired because she left with no word, so I do not have any contact with her). Anyways, my next best option is a professor with a masters. So if I do that, I would have two letters from someone who has a PhD and one with a master”

“At our school were provided a priviledge to write a draft of rec letter then you give it to your teacher to use it as a reference .Can anyone provide me with a successful example submitted by /u/Little_Assistant4027 [link] [comments]”

“As title suggests, I am struggling to figure out who to get letters of rec from. I have been working for a lab at my university for 2 years now and have been under the direct supervision of the lab manager and the PI, as well as a few grad students. I can definitely get a letter from my PI, but am struggling with the other 2 needed for the GRFP. I have heard that recommendations from my lab manager won't mean much since they are fairly early-career. Is this true? I also work a part-time job”

“I asked on the homeschool subreddit and someone said that it isnt ferpa so she could but the common app says it's ferpa. I just need more opinions. I have no one else to write a lor I don't know any else adults besides my aunt that's an occupational therapist and my dad. (I do not go to church, I'm not in sports or employment and I have no neighbor that I talk to. I have NO ONE so just answer the question) submitted by /u/LycheeThin7698 [link] [comments]”

title submitted by /u/Agreeable_Baker_6075 [link] [comments]

“I don’t know how to ask a professor who I don’t know well for a letter of recommendation- my whole program was online and I didn’t really interact with my professors, I got good grades (above 95%), joined an honour society, volunteer and work as an SLPA. But how do I ask someone who doesn’t know me. I know it’s probably a long shot but I have no other options. submitted by /u/No-Tomatillo-7035 [link] [comments]”

This is how a lot of professional letters and military letters are done.

“I need some advice regarding LORs. Based on this sub, most colleges require 3 LORs. One of them is usually the school counselor and the other 2 are either school teachers, internships, ECs, etc. I really want to get a letter from my CS and Math teachers as I think they really know me well. But I also got an opportunity to do a summer internship with a college professor (~3 months) who really liked my work and promised me a LOR. I got to do some useful research and wrote some code for the analysi”

“The reference letters part of this whole process is doing my head in a bit. Every guide I read assumes you have a recent lab supervisor or a professor who remembers you fondly. My undergrad was long enough ago that those people are retired or genuinely impossible to track down, and the ones I could find would be writing about a version of me that barely resembles who I am now. What I do have is people from my working life who actually know my thinking, my commitment, and how I approach problems.”

“Parent of a student, who is related to a US Hall of Fame athlete, wants recommendation for their child to go to a private school. In 5th grade public school and I am tenured. I would not be able to write a positive letter for this child as they have behavior problems and mediocre academic ability. As far as their athletic ability, I am their Gen Ed teacher and have not seen the child's athletic teamwork skills. On an ethical level, I would not be able to write the child a positive review. Th”

“I want to apply some sort of bio/biochem/mol bio with a possible minor in a humanities. For my humanities teacher rec, is it okay to ask my Spanish teacher? I think he'll write a good rec, but I'm worried he's not considered a "core" class teacher. submitted by /u/SpecialistGarden4708 [link] [comments]”

“Hi! I am so confused about asking for letters of recommendation. I am an American applying to unis in America, Canada, and the UK. My counselor said at least for American unis, you request the letter through Schoolinks once your application is completed. Although, isn’t that cutting it too close? How do I ask in advance? If I email them in advance, would they just enter that rec letter I had requested from earlier? Also, does this process differ for the UK and Canada? I’m so confused because eve”

“Hi everyone, I’m a recent graduate and i studied at a college affiliated with a university, and I’m planning to ask one of my lecturers for a reference/recommendation letter for future university or scholarship applications abroad. I have a few questions about how recommendation letters usually work: Does a recommendation letter have to be written by a professor, or can a lecturer also provide one?. In my college, we have lecturers rather than professors, so I’m wondering whether a lect”

“My professor said I should give him a written draft for the letter of recommendation, Can someone share some guidance submitted by /u/PersonalityOk1181 [link] [comments]”

“Hey, so I have a meeting/brag sheet to fill out for my counselor so she can write my letter of recommendation. I also need to ask her whether my one day of ISS from freshman year needs to be reported/will be shown to colleges, is it a bad idea to ask her that question after the interview with her when she’s learning about my character and that type of stuff? It is purely a logistical question in terms of commonapp but I don’t know if I want her writing my letter that might be affected by my past”

“So I’m applying to Georgetown right now, and their recommendation letter requirements are one from a counselor and one from a teacher. They say the teacher recommendation should come from a core academic teacher, but I feel like my law teacher could speak to my experiences much better because she’s known me for a while and has watched me grow through a lot. I also have a recommendation from my APUSH teacher, but I’m not sure if I should use that over my law teacher. My additional recommendation”

“for reference i just did a good summer program but ngl for various reasons im not the most close with my instructor(s). i was a good student and definetely not disliked but idt their letters would be rly good for me. if i don't submit a rec letter from the program would that be viewed as a red flag? submitted by /u/Similar_Advisor_5849 [link] [comments]”

“I need some help... I'm not sure who to pick for my 3rd rec letter writer. I'm currently doing a Master's and I graduated from undergrad 3 years ago, so I don't know if I should be re-using my old rec letter writers. My first deadline is Nov 1 so I will need to ask within like 1-2 weeks. Here's my options: Current prof who likes me the most is one I am newly TA'ing for. He allows his TAs an unusual amount of creative freedom when it comes to editing the course assignments”

“Hi peeps!! Has it happened to anyone of you that your professor asked you to write the recommendation letters by yourself and send the pdf to them so they could paste it to the admission portal? I am seeking admission in graduate studies and my undergrad professors are not willing to write the letters. They asked me to write hy myself. I need 5 letters, writing them all by myself feels tiring and I'm afraid to repetition. submitted by /u/Extension_Dance_6010 [link] [comment”

“I am asking my Calc BC teacher for a rec letter, and im applying to pretty competitive schools for mechanical engineering (ut, a&m, purdue, etc.) he was kind of a last resort, as the teacher i was about to ask apparently filled up her requests really fast. i had some negative experiences in the calc teacher's class tho - midway through the year, he split our class into two that didn't do the hw and that did do it a week before the test, and i didnt do it cuz it was a week before it w”

“so ive already asked one teacher (ap bio) for a rec, now I need another. My next choice is my ap physics teacher, since i had her for 3 years and she doesnt teach many seniors (more attention on me) but idk if I should choose another stem person. On some colleges websites (jhu) they want recommenders from “two academic subjects”. Is bio and physics seen as distinct, or do they both fall under one subject (science)? my backup choice is my history/psych teacher. Not only did I have him for 2 years”

“For Harvard should i get an additional letter of recommendation? This person i have worked alongside for years in volunteer work but wondering if this is redundant? submitted by /u/Complex_Past3797 [link] [comments]”

“Would two optional letter of recs be too many? There's one from counselor, two from teachers, and one confirmed optional letter of rec. Is it worth submitting an optional letter of rec for colleges like harvard, where two optional ones are allowed? I know it has the idea of like "it should be outstanding," but is there any other advice people have that add more onto that? Thanks! submitted by /u/MediumTraining4403 [link] [comments]”

“Im a sophomore in high school and im really unsure how to go about letters of recommendation. While it’s probably unlikely for me to ask my sophomore year teachers for one, I’d like to prepare in advance and make great impressions on my current teachers. Aside from actively participating and engaging in class, how should I go about getting killer superlative letters of recs? Also, another question: do I need letters of rec from external sources(like mentors, coaches, etc)? Would it be a big plus”

“3.95/4.65 gpa 35 act superscore, plan on going mechanical engineering. team captain on wrestling, had a summer engineering internship at a precision manufacturing company. Both have written me rec letters. Should I use my wrestling coach or supervisor? I feel like both are strong, so unsure which to use if limited. My coach did see me really struggle (one of the hardest times of my life) personally due to a at home crisis for part of my junior year, which led to a bad season end. He said he didn”

“Im applying for the fall 2027 semester, majoring in IR and MENA studies. I asked my history teacher if she could write me a letter of rec, and I think she could write me a really good one, considering I almost always get A's from her even at the honors level. She's known me since 8th grade. However, she said she had too many to write for EA, but she could do one for me during RD. I am considering waiting to apply to some schools because I don't have her letter. I know it would greatl”