Professor doesn't want to write me a letter of rec?

I need letters so I asked a professor if he could write me a letter of rec and he gave me an ambiguous answer saying he needs to think about it more and to ask them again in a week or so. He’s a nice professor who knows my name and is willing to help students understand class material…but it didn’t seem like he was exactly happy with me asking.
Plus I haven’t been able to visit other professors’ office hours or speak with them…so he’s the only professor that knows me.

Is it better to ask the first professor again, (in his class I don’t have an A), or another professor I’ve never spoken to (in her class I have an A)? I don’t know what to do, and if a letter from a class with high grade with a professor who barely knows me or a letter from a class with a low grade but a professor who knows me is better…

I would ask another professor. If you have written essays for the other professor, then they know quite a bit about your academic potential. IMO, the first professor is gently telling you he can’t write a good letter.

@bouders thanks for your reply. What if the other professor doesn’t grade the essays? the TA’s grade them and so he’s not familiar with my work. Should I still ask the professor? I don’t want to surprise him by asking them for a letter when I’ve never spoken to them.

@kamtea If you’ve never spoken to them and they haven’t read your essays, then that’s not a good reference either. Is there a professor from last year that you can ask?

I wouldn’t go back to the first prof. They have given you a polite brush off, IMHO. If you don’t have anyone who knows you well from last year, go to the 2nd prof you mentioned. Ask them if they are willing, and offer to give them a resume type document with information on your background, goals, etc. to assist in the process.

@bouders I’m a first year, so no. My classes are big so professors never grade essays.

@intparent Okay! Should I ask them over email since office hours aren’t available during finals week? Or in person as I hand in my final? I don’t want to ask in front of a lot of classmates for privacy reasons. But don’t want to appear rude by asking through an email if they prefer in person discussions for this matter.

Ah… challenging question. Some profs work in their offices a lot even when it isn’t office hours. I guess I’d at least swing by to see if the prof is there. If not, then I’d email. I’d probably attach the resume, too.

Here is another question – do you have any TAs you know better than the profs? You don’t say what the letter is for (internship? transfer? REU? something else?). You MIGHT be better off with a letter from someone who knows you well even if they are not a professor yet.

I agree with intparent regarding asking a TA instead. Also, don’t ask the prof as you’re handing in your final. That would be annoying. If you absolutely need a prof, I might make an appointment with the prof via email and ask for the reference at the appointment, and hand-deliver the resume at that time, if they agree to provide the reference.

@intparent The letters I need are for transferring. On the common app it says that the recommenders needs to be college instructors or academic advisors, does college instructor include TAs? or only professors?

@bouders @intparent I wasn’t able to go to office hours for one TA, but she did like my contributions towards discussions during section meetings and went to one of the schools i want to apply to…i don’t know if this TA would be a better choice though? I wasn’t extremely close

@bouders @intparent Sorry for asking a lot of questions, and thanks for answering them so far!

I don’t know the answer about the TA. I assume they would count, though.