<p>Is that bad? I live 350 miles away from my old professors, but if I needed to, I could make the trip. I'd rather just send them an email...</p>
<p>If you're not on campus, it's fine! They understand. You may want to call them though so you can talk about it.</p>
<p>I sent my requests over email!! They were all ok with it. I got same day positive replies. Just make sure you explain what ur going to do when u request them for LORs.</p>
<p>I sent my requests by email because one of my old professors is in France, another was a visiting lecturer, and the third is more like an electron than a person (you could figure out a general area he was 'likely' to be found, but it's impossible to pinpoint his location at any one point in time).</p>
<p>Also got same-day positive responses. Except for the one (the electron) who didn't remember me, even after I sent a lengthy description of the 8-student strong class I was in, the essays I wrote, the Gary Larson comics (in German) I had sent him after lectures that illustrated his point...to which he replied "What a gratifying letter for an instructor to receive!" but still couldn't dig me out of the deep recesses of his memories from a whopping three semesters ago. Apparently he's one of those who needs a face to stick the personality to.</p>
<p>If you run into one of these, it might be good to have a picture of yourself from when you were in college handy. I might even have problems when I go to see this professor on Monday, what with a different hair color and smaller body type than I had as a sophomore (darned pizza-enabling roommates).</p>
<p>You also might want to send them a copy of your personal statement, resume, a little table of all the due dates, addresses etc...all the standard fare you would hand them in a folder if you were there in person. It might feel odd pumping all that info into a little email...but I think they're more likely to say yes if they're clear on exactly what's being asked of them.</p>
<p>I requested all of my LOR's through email, but I was in England at the time (and they knew it). In any case, all my professors were fine with it.</p>
<p>Should I ask if they would be willing to write the LOR first, and then if they agree, send more details like classes I took with them, grades, deadlines, and SOP? Or should I send all of those with the first email?</p>
<p>For my current supervisor, I ask him in person and then send him the "package". I email my past supervisor first to ask if he can write one and then email him the info.</p>
<p>They have written several LORs for me in the past for scholarship applications and what-not.</p>
<p>One of the people I asked for a recommendation deliberately did not respond for about two weeks because he was hesitant to say yes until he knew exactly what I would be asking of him. When I forwarded the original message with greater detail I got a response back in no time. You don't have bombard them with all of your personal documents on the first message, but some note of what classes you took with them, the deadlines (they have to consider their own time management before saying yes), and a little detail as to what the colleges are looking for (whether they will need to fill out cover sheets with extra questions, send certain letters by snail mail, etc.) would be good to include in your request.</p>
<p>I graduated from college many years ago (about 6 yrs) and I'm applying to grad school this year for PhD program in engineering. I got a decent overall grade but I don't think any of my professors still remembers me. I contacted 2 professors via email last week for LOR but haven't heard back from them. When I emailed them, I basically wrote who I am, which classes I took with them, what I have done after graudation etc and attached my resume. </p>
<p>How long should I wait to hear back from them before I give up? I feel really hopeless about the prospect of getting LORs.</p>
<p>asang, you shouldn't give up before forwarding them the first email and saying that you know they're probably very busy, especially since this is recommendation season, but have they had the time to consider your request? Your email could have been accidentally deleted, or put into the "take care of this soon" folder and forgotten. Additionally, it would be good to send them the deadlines and whatnot so they know exactly what you're asking.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, though, a letter you get from a professor from six years ago (a) probably won't be stellar, no matter how great a student you were at the time (do you remember all of your classmates from every year of college? Could you recall all of their good points if they emailed you out of the blue?) and (b) might not even hold that much weight for the admissions committee. They might ask themselves why you have two out of three recommendations coming from people you haven't seen in six years.</p>
<p>Thanks tkm256. Actually, I'm thinking of calling the professors and ask
directly. Would emailing them again be better than calling up?</p>
<p>Also, anyone knows anything about getting a LOR from a work supervisor
instead of from a professor? The only thing that concerns me is that
my work is not directly related to the field I'm interested in studying in
grad school.</p>
<p>Are there any older applicants who want to chime in for advice?
Thanks.</p>