i am guessing you guys have applied to other schools many times over.
am i the only one who feels like a major BURDEN to the ones i have to hit up for yet another reference letter....even though they keep the same old thing, still, the whole sending out the thing must be really annoying to them.

i dont mind filling out the form and essays etc but asking another person for this huge favour....
i have already applied twice to canadian schools with no success.

anyway

always. even people i have known for 4+ years.

I have to admit.... letters of reference are the most tedious, imposing and annoying part of any of my medical career applications. I just can't stand them.... but it has to be done....so you might as well annoy the right people...and get the best letter of recs. A lot of people are quite familiar with the process and are surprising happy to help. Regardless...I feel your pain.
Geoff

If you have a good relationship with your professor/person it should be no trouble at all (My profs were flattered when I asked). Most save copies and just change the addresses, better ones will write an individual letter for a particular program. Most want to see their students suceed. Offer to reimburse postage if they pay it out of pocket, give them address labels to make the job easier.

__________________
The way we humans treat animals and other fellow earthlings says a lot about the society we live in: "It's a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done."
- H.B.S.

yeah, i was in a similar situation when i was applying....most of my professors were really cool about it, but one of them, perhaps my most influential professor was really bad with the whole getting things done on time and what have you. a few suggestions:
1. definitely try and provide as much of the pre-filled out stuff as possible....including pre-stamped/addressed envelopes, fill out anything you can on the forms, etc.

2. definitely offer to reimburse, or at the very least, maybe a small gift like flowers or something as a thank you...chances are they wont let you reimburse them, but they will like the flowers.

3. there are services now that you can have your professor send the letter to, and then that company will keep your stuff on file, and then you pay some fee for each school they send the rec. letters to. my school used to do it for the students for free, then they started charging a fee, and then they pawned it off to this company, but even though it meant i had to pay and what have you, it made life a bit easier, because i just went online, sending the rec's is really easy, and they are guaranteed secure and they tell you when they have been delivered, etc. etc.


anyway, do a search online, you'll find some of these, maybe you could sign yourself up, and then you won't have to worry about it. professors just do the job once, and then the company does the rest!

__________________
"I like my women like I like my coffee....hot...sweet......and with a spoon in them!"--E.I.

Not to scare you, but I recently heard a story where one professor was asked to write a LOR, but it took them a while. After numerous requests by the student the professor finally wrote it and sent it in.
The letter bashed the student so horribly that it kept the student out of us med schools (even though the grades were there).

The point is, always be friendly and don't piss off the person writing the letter.

wow...feel bad for that student.

yeah its a hassle getting the letters together and talking them into writing you a good LOR but once you get the letter have it sent to your pre-med advisor or committee at your undergrad school. they will keep your letters on file and they will send it out for you wherever you want in the future. that way u dont have to keep bugging the professor.

heard the same story except it was for a program and not medical school. I also heard from a friend that when she asked someone for a letter, he said for her to write it and he would edit and sign it. I would hate that cuz i wouldnt know what to write about myself.

yeah... no kidding. i went to a prof to get a reference letter and he told me he was so glad that i was considerate of him too.... he told me that a student before went to him for SEVENTEEN LOR's and acted like the prof should have been honoured and happy to write for him, like there was nothing better for the prof to do but write him letters...

i don't want to know how those LOR's sounded...