<p>can someone teach me the method to get recs from profs? seems so hard.. i mean i know u can go to the oh and ask questions, but after doing that once, they're not really gonna remember u or anything. so whats the best way to get a rec from a prof?</p>
<p>Research…</p>
<p>great question. what about for non-science majors?</p>
<p>Non-science majors can do research. It’s called a 199.</p>
<p>… or TA. that’s an option for most departments, sciencey or not.</p>
<p>are TA’s recs considered as good as a professors?</p>
<p>if you want a rec should you just basically speak up a lot in class and do relatively well? or do you have to go to office hours and out of class stuff?</p>
<p>a letter’s always going to look better if it’s from a professor than a TA (that PhD has to count for something every once in a while …)</p>
<p>generally the better you know a professor, the better your letter will be – they’ve got to get to know you and stuff. all my rec-writers were PhD scientists ranging from lecturers to professors to a department head at a pharmaceutical company, but i got to know them beyond the classroom/lab setting … even went surfing with one :)</p>
<p>and regarding the “speaking up in class” bit – if this is a huge lecture hall, please DO NOT be that annoying question kid who speaks up every 15 minutes about random nonsense. your classmates will hate you, and your professor won’t be amused either.</p>
<p>Generally, any LoR is better than no LoR, but there seems to be some kind of heirarchy for AdComs:</p>
<p>Professor > Lecturer >= Post-Doc Researcher > Grad Student > Other > UG TA > UG</p>
<p>And I think astrina meant to try to TA–not get one from a TA. Most departments aren’t that hard to get a TA position. For Econ, I just needed to have a 3.5 UD Econ GPA and they pretty much hired everyone for 195 credit–trying to get it for pay was another story. For Psych, it’s just getting an A- or above in the class you’re trying to TA for.</p>
<p>yeah, i meant to TA in hopes of securing a professor’s letter of rec – but as a undergrad and grad TA, i’ve written maybe a half-dozen letters myself. some didn’t care that i was a undergrad at the time (which was pointless, they could’ve just recruited their roommate), others were eventually given to me, in a “I asked professor X but professor X says you know me better so if you write the letter, professor X will sign it” kind of way.</p>
<p>Yeah–that’s one of the reasons I try to talk people out of relying LoRs from people that they just took a class with. Even if the TA “knows you”, all they really know are details that are reflected on your transcript.</p>
<p>Always try to get respected (if possible) people in the field who can speak of subjective qualities and can recognize your passion and work ethic. If the professor is friends with people you want to work with (this is for the sciences / PhD route), then make sure you ask your letter writer to give a head’s up to your person of interest (PoI).</p>
<p>So, as astrina said, there’s some utility, but not much, from having your “grader” write your LoR. You basically have to sell yourself to whoever you want to impress by working in labs, be willing to do as much of the female dog-work as they give you, demonstrate ability to think and perform independently, etc. If you get a TA appointment, try to position yourself as the “head TA” by offering more-than-necessary office hours, holding review sessions, keep close contact with the professor to stay on the same page (and provide feedback from your students if he/she is going to slow/fast etc) and this is an easy way to get a working relationship with them, too.</p>