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Edit -- now I'm realizing youre supposed to waive your right to read the letters.
so do I ask 2 professors who I was very friendly with often went to office hours and helped the profs with outside of class things and took 6+ classes with each, but didn't necessarily take the classes seriously,
or 2 professors who I took 2 classes with, didn't really know them on a personal level, but went to some office hours, really tried in class discussions was always on time to class etc and got 100% on many papers...I feel like they might write I don't really know her but she did great in class. These were both upper division classes, one of which was for my major.
The one that was my major -- I got the only 100% on the midterm after having to miss 2 weeks (had to tend to a sick fam member in a diff country and handle funeral arrangements etc), the prof was really impressed. The one that wasn't my major I had to drop the class but she was very sympathetic and understanding and she had agreed before to write me an LOR.
Re the professors I was friendly with but didn't try too hard in class -
- they were foreign lang classes, its my native tongue so didn't really have to try for the A/A+
- I did win an award in the class (Outstanding 2nd Year Student Award). The professor who gave the 1st year student award gave a lengthy speech about how great the student was in class, the professor who gave my award was just like "didn't really prepare a speech woops. she's really cool and she surfs I like her a lot".
- I was in the Slavic honor society bc I had good grades in those classes
- I went to many office hours and always chatted with the professors and brought them coffee and helped them with things like setting up for the club fair
- I probably had an air of I wanna get tf out of here bc I get really claustrophobic and the 2nd year the class was 15 students at one table in a tiny sort of office space
- I feel like they might write..she's cool but has a bad attitude ??
- one of them offered, without me prompting her, to write me an LOR
- the one who didn't offer, but agreed when I asked, is the head of the department
Comments
You can pick which LORs you want to submit to what schools
And you CAN read a LOR before sending it to a school BUT that's if you don't waive your rights to see the LOR. Waiving your rights to not see a LOR is better imo though because it shows that you trust the person giving you the LOR enough to submit it to schools without having read it. I think schools prefer that you do this as well because it shows that the LOR writer is credible.
I think you should ask all 4 just in case one falls through. In my case, I initially asked 2 professors, who said yes, but now they are MIA. I ended up asking 2 other professors a month later.
So I would say definitely ask all 4 and then evaluate which to send based on who responds (and actually submits).