<p>I'm not particularly close with my professors... How would I go about asking one of them for a letter of recommendation ?</p>
<p>I had this problem for getting a medical school recommendation. I knew the professor...but we weren't close. I recommend you do something similar to what I did...it should work.</p>
<p>First I asked if he'd would even be willing to write me a letter. When he said yes, I made an appointment to see him. I gave him everything he needed: transcripts, CV, copies of publication abstracts, list of ECs and even gave him the draft of my personal statement so he could understand why I wanted to be a physician. We talked about my reasons for wanting to go to med school and some academic issues I had and my thoughts on them. In the end...he was able to write me a beautiful letter of recommendation.</p>
<p>Great question and superb answer. I'm going to copy them and incorporate them into Transfer Admissions 101 sticky thread. Others will definitely find this useful.</p>
<p>Thanks to you both.</p>
<p>dewdrop87-</p>
<p>thank you for your answer. I never thought of it that way ! I will try that approach :) .</p>
<p>What are good ways to judge if a professor is willing to write a recommendation? The other day, (possibly prematurely) I told one of my professors from an elective I have that I was thinking of transferring at the end of the year. She didn't seem that interested in the reason for me transferring, but in a way tried to talk me into staying at my current school.</p>
<p>ask them</p>
<p>seriously</p>
<p>thats the only way youre going to find out...whats the worst that can happen?</p>
<p>well, they can say no and then it would be awkward for the rest of the year. or not.</p>
<p>anyway I'm nervous about telling my professors I want to transfer out. I'm in relatively small classes 15-35 students, and I have one professor in particular I'm thinking of asking. but he's really an nyu-school-spirit type of guy and if I tell him I wanna get out of there, I wonder if he'll think less of me.</p>
<p>^^ This is a common worry. And rarely comes to pass. Give the professor a reason why you want to/need to transfer that does not reflect poorly on NYU - it could be financial, geography, a change in your interests to a major that is not strong at NYU, a desire for a smaller school..... Whatever. As long as you are not dissing his school, it should not be a problem.</p>
<p>Professors and officers understand, especially for transfer applicants, that it's hard to get recommendations when you've only been in college for a few semesters. As stated above, I recommend getting one from a professor you've at least talked to personally, and one that recognizes you both by sight and name.</p>
<p>Hmm, I know its best to get to know a professor via office hours, but what if I have no purpose to go to their office hours. For this semester, my two business related courses are pretty easy and I don't seem to need much help. Should I just go anyway and talk about random topics (or business related)?</p>
<p>^^That's how I got to know the professor who wrote my letter. I just showed up in his office and introduced myself and talked for at least an hour about random things. After that I went to his office hours every other week to chat/ask questions about the course material.</p>