How to Ask a Professor for a Letter of Recommendation

1. If possible, ask the professor in person, or email he/she/they as soon as possible

2. In person would be ideal, so that you can give the professor a better idea of who you are and why you want to attend dental school

3. If you ask via email, make sure you provide the professor with lots of information about yourself (or if they specifically ask for a resumé, composite app essays, etc.,)

4. If you ask the professor via email, make sure that you construct an email that is very personable

5. This is extremely important especially if you haven’t had recent interactions with the professor

6. It would be beneficial to include in the email the name of the class and/or the grade you received in the class. If the grade you received in the class was not high, include how you learned and grew from that grade

7. You may also include the impact of the course/professor/mentor on your academic and professional growth

Example letters:

Dear Dr. Tony Stark,

I hope you are doing well during these difficult times. I am writing to you to ask if you would consider writing me a letter of recommendation for dental school. I am a rising senior and I will be applying in early June. I thought it would be fitting to ask you as I have been in your BIOL 201 during the Winter 2021 term and I feel that I have grown and shown improvement over the time I have spent learning human anatomy both with learning how to study and perform better on exams.

If you feel that you are unable to write a letter, I understand and I want to thank you anyways for taking the time to read my email and being such a great professor. If you would be willing to write me a letter, I would definitely love to either talk to you or email you about what I am involved in on campus and why I want to go into dentistry. I've attached my resume, transcript and personal statement to this document. Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,

Peter Parker