Transfer Application: Letter of Recommendation advice?

Transfer Students
1

Hello, all.

As a Computer Science major, I plan on asking two professors for letters of recommendation. I know I definitely want to ask my Differential Equations professor from the Fall semester; not only did I do very well in his class, but I would visit his office for assistance, so we built a good relationship.

I am currently thinking of asking my Intro to Computer Science professor for my second letter, but I am unsure of a few things. One, I will be having her again this Spring semester for Data Structures. I’m fairly confident that I will do well; I earned a strong A in the Intro class. However, nothing is completely certain. Should I wait a while before I approach her? Also, while I participated quite a bit in class and saw her once for assistance, I can’t say I have the same student-professor connection with her as I did with my Differential Equations professor. I am not sure how much this matters when it comes to asking a professor for a letter of recommendation, but it is something I have considered.

Another person I have considered is my first-semester CS Lab instructor. I did exceptionally well; I only got 0.5 point off for a stupid mistake I made early, early in the semester. Again, though, we do not have that personal connection - probably less so, considering we only met for those Lab periods.

I’d love to hear your advice/insight on the matter. Thank you.

2

Approach as soon as possible, but definitely 6-8 weeks. In advance. My recommender is a professor I have again this Spring and she doesn’t mind. Ask your second professor now, you have a good fall back. She just might ask for more info.

3

I agree with the above. Better sooner than later. I am also taking a teacher in Spring, who already wrote a recommendation for me.

4

Ask as early as you can. In lower level courses, there aren’t many opportunities to really form strong relationships with teachers anyways, and I’m sure they know it as well. Still, you need recs, so what can you do about it?

5

Or be like me and only apply to schools you like that require no LORs. :))