How would I go about getting the required Letters of Recommendation needed to continue on to Grad school?

Question

If I graduated from college over 5 years ago? How does a non-typical student (not straight from undergrad to grad school) overcome this hurdle? I have not kept in contact with any of my instructors, and I was a good student, but I really doubt they remember me well enough to write a letter.

Answer 1

You won't know if they remember you unless you try. Go visit them. You may be remembered by them and be in for a big surprise! They had others write letters on their behalf from others, so they will most likely be happy to write on for you. You can assist them by offering them a current resume, including your honors, if any, professional memberships, accomplishments, unofficial transcripts, cover letter to grad school stating what you want to study and why and the names of three references that they can call if they want to make the letter more personal.

Best wishes.

Answer 2

Go find a professor you remember pretty well and ask him what to do. It'll be easiest if you write him a polite letter describing yourself, your situation, the course you took with him, and the year you took it. If anything happened during the course that might help him remember you, be sure and include that, too. Teachers remember some students quite well, and he'll be interested that you've decided to go to graduate school.

What the grad school is looking for is some evidence of a student's character and general ability. Everyone knows that time passes and that professors don't remember kids who've been in their classes.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Unless you are applying to graduate programs in Business or Education, you will need letters from your former professors.

I have had students contact me from well over five years in the past, and I had no trouble writing appropriate letters.

Here's what to do when you contact them.

Email them with a message reminding them of who you are, what courses you took with them, and in what years you took those courses. Remind them of the grades you earned. Then ask if they would feel able to write you a supportive letter. If they accept, email them back with the details of the programs to which you are applying, and include a copy of your current resume, and a copy of one of the personal statements you have written for your grad school applications.

This will help tremendously.

Best wishes to you!

Answer 5

Contact the profs you had the best connection with. You'd be surprised -- if your class was fairly small (less than 50), they'll most likely remember you. I've had many students contact me years later for letters, and all the students stood out to me. Give it a shot.

Also, letters of rec. aren't THAT detailed, by and large. I'm sure any prof that you connected with would be able to supply the needed information.