<p>I am in a dilemma with regards to recs; I don't have a professor that can write me fantastic recs, because my classes were mostly big, lecture classes. Current options I am contemplating are: </p>
<p>My English teacher - Graduate student studying for her Ph.D.
She said she would happily write recommendation letters for anybody in our class. I pulled an A in the class, but I missed 4 classes in 3 and a half months. My participation wasn't really active, but my comments were always helpful in pointing out important points in the reading and shaping the outline of the discussion (according to my classmates and my teacher). I don't know her very well, but this is the teacher I have had the most physical contact with, through conferences about my papers. </p>
<p>My Programming teacher - Harvard Alum, worked at Microsoft for years
I was definitely going to ask him for a rec, until in the middle of the semester for no good reason I got lazy. I blew off 3 quizzes, got 0's on them, and missed a bunch of classes, which got me a 38 and a 76 on the next two quizzes (also the last two of the semester). Although it was a big lecture class, he noticed my absences (I think he was keeping tabs on me because I did so well at the beginning of the term). I still managed to pull a low A, because of my excellent grades from the first half of the term, and I also scored an A on the final after pulling myself together (it was a hard final). I also didn't attend any office hours or bonus lectures (and no, they weren't the sort-of-required lectures; they were purely bonus). I recon I won't be getting a rec from him anymore :p</p>
<p>My Programming T.A. - Sophomore, also sits 1 seat away from me in my electrical engineering lab.
This, I thought up as an alternative to my programming teacher. He is a very hard-working guy, and a very nice person. I have had some contact with him during labs, and sometimes during homework sessions (our programming homeworks were always due on friday mornings, so I stayed up all night with him one Thursday night). However, I RARELY showed up to his review sessions and office hours. I think he thinks I am sort of a slacker, but a very smart guy. Would it be possible to ask him for a rec after telling him I got an A in the class?</p>
<p>My Engineering lab T.A. - I actually have 2 T.A.'s in mind.
Although I received a high B in electrical engineering, the lab T.A.s don't necessarily know that :) One T.A. is named Sagaar, and he is a very strict guy. I did VERY WELL during labs, scoring an average of 24.5+ on each lab out of 25 (there were prelab checks, T.A.s were present and observing us during the 3 hour labs, and they administered postlab quizzes). However, he seemed to be bothered sometimes when I asked him too many questions.
Another guy I have in mind is Jigaar, who is a more lenient guy. He is a very nice guy, who teaches us the material we will need to know before the labs. I asked him alot of questions, especially towards the end of the semester. He has seen me stay after labs working on my robot a few times, and that is a rarity since most students leave as soon as or before the 3 hour labs are over.
I have had no personal contact with these guys outside of labs, however.</p>
<p>My other professors and T.A.'s are out of question since I have had virtually no contact with them due to their lack of office hours (they literally had no office hours.... Didn't wanna put up with the 200+ kids i guess)</p>
<p>I know my recs are not gonna be anything close to spectacular... I just need help picking the best choice out of the four. Currently I am thinking my english prof and Jigaar, my second lab T.A. What do you guys think?</p>