Letters of Recommendation Preview

Michigan State University students with plans of graduate school understand the importance of building relationships with professors in order to receive strong letters of recommendations. 

With a university currently at almost 50,000 students the challenges of trying to stand out and make personal connects with professors are prevalent. 

MSU Anthropology major, Kailey Shelton said letters of recommendation were very, very, very important for her plans for graduate school. 

Shelton will be attending the University of Central Florida to work on her MA after she graduates. "Going in my junior year knowing this is what I wanted to really study and I needed to go to grad school, I really started working on who I wanted for letters of recommendation and how I was going to get them" Shelton said.

While knowing letters of recommendations are an important part of the application for graduate school asking a professor to write one for you can be difficult. 

Senior and Human biology major, RaeAnn Tourangeau has a biology class with 400 students said it's been very hard getting letters of recommendation. Tourangeau plans on going into medical school after graduation.

"I typically don't have questions, so I kind of feel like an idiot going into office hours and not knowing what to ask so I've never done that and that's why it's been hard for me because all of my classes have been huge" Tourangeau said. 

Making connections with professors can be one of the most important things you do with your time at college.

Shelton said, "I'm in a very small field so everyone knows each other, so getting those one on one experiences with professors and in the field and in the lab. That's what professors write about and that's how they communicate with other professors at other universities."