<p>Is it considered inappropriate/tacky to ask for a letter of recommendation via email? There's a professor I had last semester who I would like to request a LOR from. I have had no contact with him since being in his class. The only alternative to directly asking via email would be to email him saying I have a request and asking when his office hours are and asking in person.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>I would go with the latter-- email to ask about office hours, tell him it’s about a letter of rec, but go to office hours. Talk a little about what the program is and what it means to you-- remind him who you are!</p>
<p>Thanks. Any other opinions feel free to post.</p>
<p>It’s generally always better to ask in person, so that they can connect a name to a face.</p>
<p>That being said, every letter of recommendation I’ve asked for was over email (even when I asked someone who I saw every other day). If it was a professor I hadn’t necessarily talked to in a while, I’d remind them who I was, explain what I was applying for, and ask if they would be willing to write a letter of recommendation for me. I’d always offer to meet with them, if they would like, to talk about it, but they were all fine with just sending my CV, deadlines, and such. It worked out for me, at least.</p>
<p>I generally say it’s fine just communicating over email, but if it’s a professor who hasn’t seen you in a while, who you weren’t very close to, and/or who may not know you very well, it may be better to meet in person so that you can job his memory and maybe talk about some things that you did in his class so he has something to write about.</p>
<p>You could always use a hybrid approach.</p>
<p>Send him an email saying that you would like to set up a time to meet to discuss an LOR. He might reply saying there is no need to meet and ask you for more details via email.</p>