Employment & Professional Networking LOR help for OT school

[aspiringOTstudent]

• The OT schools I am planning on applying to don't require a LOR from a professor, but how important is it to get one from a professor?

There's a specific professor who I have in mind for a LOR because I have her this semester and will have her next semester. However, I don't do well with speaking up in class, but am good one on one. Besides participating in class, my other problem is that I don't know what to talk about with a professor to impress them/ don't need to go for them for help with the class topics, everything taught is pretty straight forward.

I want to figure this out now to start making a good impression ASAP, if I need to. So please help, thanks!

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[Bokonomy]

Are they doing any interesting research? Would you like to discuss certain topics more in depth? Go to their office hours and do that if you can do it genuinely.

 

[10ninja]

I second going to office hours with prepared comments or questions relating to lecture or class material. I say "prepared", just in case you feel nervous.

Speak up in class! You can do it

It shows that you are eager to learn and want to think critically. A lot of professors don't have busy office hours, so I'm sure he or she will really appreciate having you stop by!

 

[LAtoSDtoOT]

• The OT schools I am planning on applying to don't require a LOR from a professor, but how important is it to get one from a professor?

There's a specific professor who I have in mind for a LOR because I have her this semester and will have her next semester. However, I don't do well with speaking up in class, but am good one on one. Besides participating in class, my other problem is that I don't know what to talk about with a professor to impress them/ don't need to go for them for help with the class topics, everything taught is pretty straight forward.

I want to figure this out now to start making a good impression ASAP, if I need to. So please help, thanks!

I think it's very important to have one or more than one from a professor(s), they are the only one that evaluate you in terms of an academic setting and your readiness to compete at a graduate level. I would also say that the type of professor matters full - time vs adjunct vs tenured vs emeritus professor as well as their subject field and classes they teach.

Getting a LOR from your BIO 101 professor is going to be viewed differently than a professor teaching Anatomy or Physiology. The professor may hold a PhD, but if they've only viewed your work in a 100 level course, then how accurately could they evaluate your ability to preform?

 

[thebiggestsky]

I'm not really super chatty in class either, so I try to find a seat in the front of the class. Then I feel more comfortable/willing to speak up, and I think the professor is more likely to acknowledge that you're present and engaged. If you have any projects or papers, you could meet up with your prof during office hours or after class to make sure you're on the right track and see if they have any input.

Does your prof know that you're interested in OT? Maybe that's something you'd want to share. When you go to ask for an LOR, you'll want to have a resume or some other notes (I gave my writers a copy of my OT app essay) that the writer can use for reference and to learn a little more about you.

And I sort of agree with the previous commenter. However, I would rather get a letter from a lower-level class professor I have a great rapport with (who can write about both my academic abilities and my personality/character) than try to get a letter from an upper-level professor that I don't feel as comfortable around and doesn't know me as well. So if you're in that situation, that's something to consider.

Good luck!

 

[beestrng]

It depends on the school. If they ask for 2 lors I would have provided at least one from a professor.

Not sure how common this is but I asked 3 professors for LORs. Only one actually made one from scratch. The other two said to make one up and they would sign it.

Got the LOR from Anatomy, Physics and Bio 1 professors. The anatomy and physics professors are probably used to giving lors due to pre-meds/pharm/pt etc.

My anatomy and physic classes were huge and neither teacher knew my name when I approached them.

 

[Bokonomy]

Oh, I should mention I had 1 letter from a CC anatomy professor, and my other from an adjunct who taught me research methods/abnormal psych. I chose these professors because I felt like I contributed the most to their classes/knew the professors reasonably well. I'm not afraid to speak up in class, so I never went to their office (not that the adjunct had one, anyway).

 

[painthorse]

Is there any profs you can get to know better in a smaller class size? One of my recommendations was from a professor who I had for my senior seminar class. This was a small class and we had to give presentations and stuff in class. This made it easier to get to know him because 1. its a small class, and 2. he sees you presenting and being engaged. I even got to know him so well that I would go to his house once a week with some students in his other classes for a homemade dinner and bible study and it turns out his wife was a past president of the university. Just doing small things can lead to more opportunities. I was worried too about recommendations when I started college, but professors are there to help you and it turned out I shouldn't have been worried. They do not want to see you fail and even if you only go a few times in the semester to ask questions (even if you already know the answer - just to show you care you can pretend not to know), they will be willing to write recommendations for you. Just throw yourself in there. I stayed one summer to do research for a different professor. This way I didn't have to worry about it interfering with school and got to make more connections. Overall my recommendations were by a prof, a boss, and an OT. This just shows a balance of things, but don't stress about it. These people want you to succeed, and if you run into a professor who for some reason says no, do not let this stop you from continuing to try with another prof. Good luck and you got this!!

 

[kgprospot]

I sit with an entirely different perspective on LORs. I didn't ask professors, and I did so because I felt my grades spoke for themselves; I didn't need my A&P teacher to validate me as a student when I got an A in the class. From my grades, they can deduce that I am a hardworker, can handle science classes, etc. Instead, I focused on asking people who actually know me, so I turned to my employers. I have worked alongside them for 5+ years, and I knew they could say more than any professor about my abilities. That's my particular situation. I realize not everyone has strong employment references, especially people still in school, but it's something to consider. Ultimately, the important thing is to choose references who actually know you and your abilities. Good luck!!