<p>I am a sophomore at Cal right now and am in the process of applying to summer internships. Pretty much all of them want a recommendation from a professor(s). I really only have a relationship with one professor (not like a research/work relationship, more like a I'll talk to you after class and go to your office hours relationship). </p>
<p>I ended up asking him for a reference and he said okay, but he wanted my official transcript and a resume. The thing is, my grades freshmen year sucked. Enough C's to make alphabet soup. I knew this would be bad so I loaded up on easy classes last semester to boost my gpa to make my chances at internships not completely helpless. I just feel worried that my professor would be put off by the fact that I had to resort to fluff classes to make my GPA even moderately palatable. If the internship committee has to see my grades that's one thing, but if my professor has to as well that's another....</p>
<p>My resume isn't anything to rejoice about either. I haven't done anything notable since I started college so it's as barren as the Mojave. Come to think of it, the more I write this thread the more I wonder why I am even trying to apply to these internships if I am so scared to even ask my professor for a simple letter. </p>
<p>Should I just man up and give him my transcript/resume and hope for the best? Make some sort of excuse as to why a street gang held me up for my transcript?</p>
<p>I think he wants something to refer back to to help write his rec. I would recommend you update your resume putting down what you think is noteworthy and what you would like him to emphasize. In terms of grades, you may want to attach a note explaining what challenges you had, but also what you are passionate about.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I find it strange he asked for an official transcript if it’s just a rec letter, to be honest. The resume makes sense because it gives a feel for who you are as a person. Most professors I have asked for a recommendation only asked for a resume and the grade i received in the class i took with them.</p>
<p>One idea is, you could say to him that: You prefer that his letter focus on your own strengths in the subject of the class that he taught for you.</p>
<p>He will not judge you based on your transcript or your resume. In fact, most professors already have a template for his/her letter of rec and it doesn’t take any more than a day to complete. You can say it’s similar to back when we were applying to several colleges and we would recycle an essay.</p>
<p>When you’re sending the e-mail to the professor, list all the good moments you had with him/her. You might not feel the need to write it, but I promise it makes the professor’s job that much easier. Here is a decent webpage what professors think about this whole letter of rec: [McMains:</a> Guidelines when requesting letters of recommendation](<a href=“http://www.me.berkeley.edu/~mcmains/recs.html]McMains:”>http://www.me.berkeley.edu/~mcmains/recs.html)
The tone is bit explicit, but it delivers the point. I think the most important thing is stating what you learned from the professor not necessarily limited to academics.</p>
<p>I write a lot of recommendation letters and it helps to have all the information so that I can write the most personal letter possible. The letter will emphasize the student’s strong points. If there is something noteworthy in the academic record it is used, if it is not relevant to the position the student is seeking and not so great, nothing is mentioned. You should definitely include anything that you want the professor to remember a bout you in your request. This will help in writing the letter.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! At UpMagic, I have been to the career center they gave me some advice on writing a resume freshmen year. They said since I was starting out it was okay to leave some high school related material on it. As a sophomore though, they mentioned that it was inappropriate to still list high school achievements so I culled my resume of it. Now, it’s looking pretty empty because of it.</p>