How well should you know a professor before asking for a recommendation?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I went to a pretty small high school (~180 students 9-12) and asking for recs from teachers wasn't really a problem because all of the teachers I had knew me pretty well just from day-to-day interaction in class. However, seeing as how much larger college is, professors aren't necessarily going to know you well, if at all.</p>

<p>Right now, I'm at Wake Forest and plan on transferring for my sophomore year. I'm definitely going to procure a rec from my Latin professor (head of the department), but as for the sec rec, I'm debating whether to ask my FYS professor or my history professor. I've talked to my FYS professor a substantial amount outside of class, so I think she knows me pretty well. However, I'm reluctant to ask because I definitely don't put my full effort into the class and I'm afraid it's obvious to her. I'm carrying a 99% average, so it's not like my grade is bad, but I think she's an overly easy grader and her class is cake anyway (putting me in a humanities class is literally like throwing As at me).</p>

<p>Meanwhile, I'm probably pulling off at least an A-, if not an A, in my history class. The class is small and I participate constantly, so my professor definitely knows who I am. However, I haven't really ever talked to her outside of class the way I have with my FYS professor.</p>

<p>So, given this, is it better to ask my FYS professor or my history professor? People always talk about "forging a relationship" outside of class with a professor for recs, but I'm not sure if the definition of "forging a relationship" is just simply making the professor aware of your existence if you go to a large university with huge classes.</p>

2

<p>shameless bump</p>

3

<p>I’ve heard that for grad school, its better if the reqs come from people that know you better professionally, even if they don’t know you that well personally. So pick the teacher that has seen you do good work.</p>

<p>DISCLAIMER: I’m applying for transfer too. I don’t really know what I’m talking about ;)</p>

4

<p>I used an economics professor for one of my NYU transfer recommendations. The relationship I had with them was similar to the one you have with your history professor. I say, go with the history professor. Participating in class is enough. I went to a community college and never stood around talking with professors outside of class.</p>