rec letters blues
I'm going to apply to grad school at the end of this year, and I'm at my wit's end about asking professors for recommendation letters.
Given that I'm a transfer student and the school I'm in doesn't have a lot of specialists in my area of interest, I haven't been able to develop a strong relationship with as many professors as I'd like. I know I'll get a glowing recommendation from one professor, but as for the other two it's looking pretty gloomy.
1. Professor AMy major advisor who is quite famous in my field and an extradordinarily nice person. Due to logistical problems, I've only been able to take one 300-level class from him (non-intro lecture, but not advanced seminar), which I did exceedingly well in (and which he remembers). I talk with him more or less regularly and he seems to think that I'm a very good student. He has also been very helpful with my grad school application process and predicated that I'll most likely get into a number of top schools.
However, when I mentioned that I'll be asking recommendation letters from Prof. so-and-so in front of him, he didn't volunteer to write one for me. Am I correct to take this as a sign that he's not interested in writing one for me? What about the fact that I haven't taken an advanced seminar with him?
2. Professor BI'm currently taking an advanced seminar with him and am signed for a graduate seminar with him next semester. I'm going to get an A in the current class. However, I have a distinct impression (and my friend in that class agrees with me) that he doesn't like me. Not because he thinks I'm bad student per se (he was quick to give me permission to take his grad class next semester), but something definitely went wrong there. He also has a very distant personal style (nothing excites him, nothing really angers him, he always speaks in the same even tone) that I am not comfortable with. I think he's also very lax about grades, so my A could very well be inflated. And I'm definitely not the top student in his class because the material is not my area of specialization.
3. Professor Che is from a related field to mine, another extraordinarily nice guy. I'm taking a graduate seminar with him now, somewhat struggling but not because I'm slacking off. I'm trying to write a good final paper for that class, but that's still in the air (I think I may end up with an A- or B+). When I asked him if he would supervise my independent research next semester, he agreed without hesitation. The research is on a topic that I'm really excited about, so hopefully I'll be able to show him that I can actually be knowledgable about something for once. Sigh....
I'm really really sorry for being so long-winded. It's just that getting into a good graduate school is very important to me and I know a bad (or lukewarm) rec can ruin my chances. If you have any opinion about which two professors out o the three I should ask for rec from, please please share your insight. Thank you so much.
Given that I'm a transfer student and the school I'm in doesn't have a lot of specialists in my area of interest, I haven't been able to develop a strong relationship with as many professors as I'd like. I know I'll get a glowing recommendation from one professor, but as for the other two it's looking pretty gloomy.
1. Professor AMy major advisor who is quite famous in my field and an extradordinarily nice person. Due to logistical problems, I've only been able to take one 300-level class from him (non-intro lecture, but not advanced seminar), which I did exceedingly well in (and which he remembers). I talk with him more or less regularly and he seems to think that I'm a very good student. He has also been very helpful with my grad school application process and predicated that I'll most likely get into a number of top schools.
However, when I mentioned that I'll be asking recommendation letters from Prof. so-and-so in front of him, he didn't volunteer to write one for me. Am I correct to take this as a sign that he's not interested in writing one for me? What about the fact that I haven't taken an advanced seminar with him?
2. Professor BI'm currently taking an advanced seminar with him and am signed for a graduate seminar with him next semester. I'm going to get an A in the current class. However, I have a distinct impression (and my friend in that class agrees with me) that he doesn't like me. Not because he thinks I'm bad student per se (he was quick to give me permission to take his grad class next semester), but something definitely went wrong there. He also has a very distant personal style (nothing excites him, nothing really angers him, he always speaks in the same even tone) that I am not comfortable with. I think he's also very lax about grades, so my A could very well be inflated. And I'm definitely not the top student in his class because the material is not my area of specialization.
3. Professor Che is from a related field to mine, another extraordinarily nice guy. I'm taking a graduate seminar with him now, somewhat struggling but not because I'm slacking off. I'm trying to write a good final paper for that class, but that's still in the air (I think I may end up with an A- or B+). When I asked him if he would supervise my independent research next semester, he agreed without hesitation. The research is on a topic that I'm really excited about, so hopefully I'll be able to show him that I can actually be knowledgable about something for once. Sigh....
I'm really really sorry for being so long-winded. It's just that getting into a good graduate school is very important to me and I know a bad (or lukewarm) rec can ruin my chances. If you have any opinion about which two professors out o the three I should ask for rec from, please please share your insight. Thank you so much.