<p>I recently graduated from UW with a BSCE degree. I've always done relatively well in the academic world with little effort and it has never really presented me with a challenge. I graduated with a 3.8 GPA and I had a 1410 SAT score with no preparation. (Apologies for the bragging). I thought the undergraduate program was relatively easy.</p>
<p>One thing that plagues me is that I'm not a socialite; I never communicated well with my professors and they barely know me other than the fact I got good grades. I rarely saw my professors for assistance. I was never involved working in labs because I worked off campus making a far better wage.</p>
<p>So now I'm looking at grad school and one required item that irks me is the recommendation letters. It caters towards people who have basically been hovering around professors or those who have worked in labs at school.</p>
<p>Is there anyway to get around this? I hate these stupid, trivial things, but I know they're not trivial. I know I can prove myself once in the program, that's easy. Getting someone else to say it that barely knows me is the difficult part. </p>
<p>Anyone able to get into a grad. program without recommendation letters? I know it's highly unlikely...</p>
<p>If you recently graduated within the last year or two it’s not too late to get those letters. I would suggest that you email your two favorite profs and make an appointment to talk to them about your grad school plans.
When you talk to them, you can ask for suggestions from them regarding which programs they think would be a good fit with your goals, and also ask if they would be able to write you a good letter of recommendation. They are used to this- it’s part of their job, and if you were a good student I would expect them to be glad to do it. </p>
<p>And you’re right- it’s not possible to get into a good program without recommendations.<br>
It would be considered and incomplete application.</p>
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<p>Just some unasked for advice- This comment comes off as rather offensive. Most kids who “hover” around the profs and worked in labs did so because they were committed to the science- not because they were tools. ;)</p>
<p>■■■■■ or no ■■■■■. ASK FOR A LETTER. Ask for it through e-mail. Or really, just grow a pair and go into office hours.</p>
<p>I feel like I missed out on applying to good programs/scholarships because I was too shy to ask for a letter. When I <em>finally</em> asked for a letter, my advisor was like “sure, no problem”. Just give them enough time to write it. </p>
<p>You need to have these skills in grad school/ life.</p>
<p>They don’t even look at your application if you don’t have “3” recommendation letters. So, you definitely should approach the teachers with a resume or something and explain to them about your experiences and what your plans are! The professors know how to the rest! it’s easy!</p>
<p>one thing I noticed doing research as an undergrad and now as a tech, is that being super smart by yourself will only get you so far. While science shouldn’t be a popularity contest, I’ve seen how building and maintaining friendly relationships has really helped out my professors in terms of facilitating collaborations, getting jobs, pushing papers and grants through the process faster, etc. Especially now that everything’s so interdisciplinary, you really can’t be an expert on everything by yourself so you need to figure out how to engage with other people and network.</p>
<p>Also - you don’t need to be a professor’s best friend to get a good letter. they want to help you succeed! if they can’t write a good letter, they’ll just tell you to find someone else to do it.</p>
<p>What does being a socialite have to do with anything? Lots of relatively antisocial people procure 3 strong letters of recommendation. That’s because their interaction with recommenders is strictly professional, though extensive. That’s exactly how I interact with my letter writers, anyway (except for one, whom I actually consider a friend).</p>
<p>I got into UCSD mechanical engineering with full aid with only 1 letter of recommendation. Seems like I’m the only one applying to the program lol. Let’s see if you can get past me</p>
<p>Anyway just ask for the letters. That’s the only thing you can do now. In some asia countries students ask their advisors for letters but make them up themselves and get the advisors to sign. That way you can tailor the letters and brag about yourself even when your not doing good nor involving in any kind of research.</p>
<p>so, a 3.8 GPA, 1410 on the SATs, and you don’t know what “socialite” means? and you want a grad degree, but the thought of even talking to one of your professors means you don’t want to do it anymore?</p>
<p>do not feed the ■■■■■. move along, people, nothing to see here.</p>
<p>The truth is if you can’t even complete a graduate application, you are not grad school material. Everybody gets recommendations, even the most tactless anti social types. This is your first test, and you’re failing.</p>
<p>edit: I don’t like talking to professors either. I got 3 letters for Law School, and 2 For my MBA. I had a 3.0 GPA and one of my letters came from a Prof that gave me a C+. I respected him and enjoyed his class but I was horrible student. I got it because I took a chance. All he could say was no. It’s called balls.</p>
<p>Are you interested in applying to stupid or trivial schools? Then maybe LOR doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>Are you applying to a MS program or a PhD program? I think the MS is a little more forgiving of hardcare LOR. LOR for PhD is really important because it is from a professor (who is hopefully known by the admit committee) who thinks you have potential to do important research.</p>
<p>What was your outside employment, was it related to your proposed grad studies? Then you can get a LOR from them.</p>
<p>You are out of touch with what a good LOR is. It isn’t for students who hover. It is given to students who involve themselves. “Did well in class” doesn’t make for much of a reccomendation letter. They already see that from transcripts.</p>
<p>Involving yourself in the department, however, can be quite a bonus. Did you do research or projects? Did you TA. All of that.</p>
<p>It might be a late reply, you should ask your professors if they can write an “excellent” recommendation letter for you. some professors accept to do it for you, but they just write a neutral one. A neutral letter can be worse than not having a recommendation letter.</p>