<p>I'm finishing up at a 4 year university, and I plan on taking a few years to work/travel/etc before I apply to grad school. If I do this, will I still be expected to submit professor recommendations? </p>
<p>Should I somehow get some general recs on file now to be used later on? Will I be expected to track down professors who remember me well enough to write a rec after 3 years? Do schools accept recs from an employer as a substitute? Or would the requirement be dropped?</p>
<p>Sorry if this has been answered before, nothing turned up in the search. Thanks for anyone who has been in this situation or has any insight at all.</p>
<p>I don't have first hand experience with taking time off, but from the 13 apps I filled out it's pretty clear that at least 2 and many times 3 recs are required regardless of circumstances. (I wouldn't have been able to click submit without filling out the reccomendations section) Those are possibly the most important part of your application. I know students with your same problem that have been advised to seek recs while at college. In short, yes that is what you should do and it's not awkward because this happens often. If you are considerig more than 1 area of study for graduate school you may need to seek recs from more than 1 department. Any professor not willing to write a general rec for you shouldn't be one of your recs in any case. Oh if your work experience relates to your field of study, then yes that should be good for 1 rec. Just my opinions, good luck.</p>
<p>I don't think there is any use in getting letters now. When you apply to grad school, your applications will involve sending your college professors a form that they have to fill in. The form usually asks them to rate your abilities and compare you to other students they have taught. There usually is also an option for professors to include a written letter of recommendation. However, some grad school applications will ask your professors to provide short, written answers to a set of questions. Professors do this stuff all the time so there is no need to stress about it until when you know where you're applying to and what for.</p>
<p>I think that it couldn't hurt to get a general rec from a few professors now. However, if you are working in your field, then a rec from an employer will be quite relevant and more important than recs from college. I wouldn't plan on tracking down old professors in a few years.</p>
<p>The point is that if they write it now, they'll save it on their computer, and in three years when they need to fill out the online form, its just copy paste for them.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I should write a letter now that won't be needed for three years?</p>
<p>Ha!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>hahaha... Only one of my profs submitted his letters earlier than 1 day before the deadline. Students aren't the only ones who like to wait until the last minute. :)</p>
<p>But a question to you, Prof X. Would you even remember a student after 3 years? I notice that one of my independent research advisors sometimes gets me confused with another student now. I can't imagine what his memory of me would be after 3 years! lol</p>
<p>At my undergrad institution, I believe that there was a system set up so that one of the Deans could file letters for future use. I didn't make use of it at the time so I don't know much about it, but I think that at least some people were requesting letters and getting them on file to be submitted later. Maybe this is the kind of thing that varies a little from school to school: ?</p>
<p>You can be absolutely certain I remember students well after they have been graduated, particularly if they are of graduate school calibre. I have recently written letters of recommendation for students I haven't seen or heard from in over five years. </p>
<p>By the way, one of these students handled the request beautifully.</p>
<p>She first sent an email of inquiry. After I responded, agreeing to write, she sent a current CV, one of her statements of purpose, a list of classes she took with me and grades she received, and she even attached two research papers she wrote in my classes. </p>