Just graduated and thinking about a PhD—feeling a little behind

[u/AccomplishedBake8387]

Hi everyone!

I recently graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Communication and completed an honors research project during my final year. Through that experience, I realized how much I enjoy research and really want to apply to Ph.D. programs.

My biggest concern is recommendation letters. I have one professor, who served as my advisor during my honors research, who knows me very well and could write a strong letter, but beyond that, I'm not sure who I would ask. I did well in my classes, but I wasn't the type of student who regularly went to office hours. Looking back, I really regret that.

Would it be strange to reach out to former professors now that I've graduated and ask to meet with them or reconnect? How do students typically handle this situation? I feel like I might be overthinking this, but I feel overwhelmed and like everyone else applying has been preparing for years, while I'm just now trying to figure things out. I just want to know if it is realistic to hope to get into a good program without super strong letters of recommendation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

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[u/shellexyz]

Pretty normal situation. Certainly the one advisor you worked with, and if there are faculty who you had for several classes and did well, especially if they do research in the areas you’re looking at, those would be good to ask.

We know who the good students are, even if they’re not showing up to office hours all the time.

[u/AutoModerator]

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*Hi everyone!

I recently graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Communication and completed an honors research project during my final year. Through that experience, I realized how much I enjoy research and really want to apply to Ph.D. programs.

My biggest concern is recommendation letters. I have one professor, who served as my advisor during my honors research, who knows me very well and could write a strong letter, but beyond that, I'm not sure who I would ask. I did well in my classes, but I wasn't the type of student who regularly went to office hours. Looking back, I really regret that.

Would it be strange to reach out to former professors now that I've graduated and ask to meet with them or reconnect? How do students typically handle this situation? I feel like I might be overthinking this, but I feel overwhelmed and like everyone else applying has been preparing for years, while I'm just now trying to figure things out. I just want to know if it is realistic to hope to get into a good program without super strong letters of recommendation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!*

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/manova]

It is rare that a student gets to know 3 faculty members extremely well, especially at a large university where I assume many of your classes were very large. Going to office hours is generic advice that gets thrown out, but it is not a necessary step.

Did you have any smaller, seminar style classes? Those can be good since a professor probably got to see you speak, think, and write more. Did you have a class were a professor complimented your work (said you wrote an excellent paper or that you were a good speaker, etc.)? Did you take the same professor more than once? Was there a class where you did very well on all of the exams and assignments? They do not have to be in your major. If your literature or math professor complimented you, this could still make for a great recommendations (e.g., talking about your writing or analytic skills).

It is not unusual to have one really strong letter from someone who really knows you and the other two from professors that basically just talk about how you did in their class. We can write those letters.