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McQueen · 2009 October 20th, 07:24 AM

How much does letter of reference matter when applying for MSCS? The problem is, I am not being able to contact my professors who could provide me with the best recommendations. Partly because I am currently working in a different country than where I did my undergrad, and besides that it has been almost 6 yrs since graduation.

So, I am planning to provide 2 LORs from my present and past employer, and one from my maths professor with whom I took Calculus classes. Would that be good? I may be able to contact one of my CS professor with who I took only one class, however, I am not sure if she would provide a strong recommendation.

Someone please suggest me what would be a better way?

Note: I do have a very good letter of reference from one of my Prof. of Advanced mathematics but its in paper form. Can I make use of it somehow?

sweetu1995 · 2009 October 20th, 04:29 PM

I am in the same situation as you. I contacted my college and was fortunate to find 3 of my profs still working in the department. I got in touch with them and they did give me letter of reference's.

Maybe you can call them first and then email. If the profs are working somewhere else you can still get their contact numbers from college.

McQueen · 2009 October 20th, 10:57 PM

Thanks for the suggestion. I am glad it worked out for you, but in my case professors who taught me no longer live in the country from where I graduated. I studied in an international campus of an American University, professors were mostly Americans or British.

Anyways, do you think having 2 LORs from employers and only one from Professor will have a negative impact on my admission?

Thanks.

sweetu1995 · 2009 October 21st, 03:08 AM

cant you get their contact details?

McQueen · 2009 October 21st, 05:16 AM

Thanks for the reply.

I did try and got working email address of a professor with whom I took one class. But she does not know me very well so I am not sure if she will give me a strong recommendation. Since I am applying for top programs, I need a very good letter of reference. On the other hand, I am pretty sure I will get strong letters from my employers.

CalmLogic · 2009 October 21st, 06:31 AM

Quote:

But she does not know me very well so I am not sure if she will give me a strong recommendation.

How is that worse than getting a letter of reference from your calculus professor?

McQueen · 2009 October 21st, 06:45 AM

Calculus professor knows me well, took 3 Calculus classes with him. Got the highest grades, he was kinda impressed by my performance. He even asked me to tutor students who were not doing great in maths.

Having said that, I did get the highest score in the CS professors class too, but its just that there wasn't much interaction and don't know what kind of recommendation she would give.

McQueen · 2009 October 22nd, 07:54 AM

Waiting for comments...

Luma · 2009 October 22nd, 04:05 PM

You better get LORs from professors who taught you advanced courses.

Quote:

We prefer recommendations from faculty who have taught you in the more advanced computer science courses that you have taken and from faculty with whom you have done research. If you have done research, we expect a recommendation from your supervisor.
Department of Computer Science

McQueen · 2009 October 23rd, 01:53 AM

Thanks Luma.

I tried all the ways, but don't seem to be able to contact them. During undergrad I did have projects but it was not research oriented, my work experience is more relevant to the kind of study I want to do during my graduate studies.

Also, I am going to have LORs from the CEOs of my company, because both of them are with great technical background, and actively participate in R&D. It is more pertinent to get letter from the CEO for my current job (almost 5yrs now) because being a project leader I worked under his direct supervision, project manager had to do little with my project as I was doing everything from scheduling to task distribution & management.

Generally schools take it negatively when they see letters for top management, is there anyway I could explain them why I am choosing them as my referees. Online applications do not seem to allow adding comments.

One more thing... as I mentioned earlier, I have a great letter of reference (on paper) from my maths prof who taught me advanced mathematics, can I make use of it?

2009 October 20th, 07:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	about LOR How much does letter of reference matter when applying for MSCS? The problem is, I am not being able to contact my professors who could provide me with the best recommendations. Partly because I am currently working in a different country than where I did my undergrad, and besides that it has been almost 6 yrs since graduation. So, I am planning to provide 2 LORs from my present and past employer, and one from my maths professor with whom I took Calculus classes. Would that be good? I may be able to contact one of my CS professor with who I took only one class, however, I am not sure if she would provide a strong recommendation. Someone please suggest me what would be a better way? Note: I do have a very good letter of reference from one of my Prof. of Advanced mathematics but its in paper form. Can I make use of it somehow? Last edited by McQueen : 2009 October 20th at 07:41 AM.

2009 October 21st, 05:16 AM	#5 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	Thanks for the reply. I did try and got working email address of a professor with whom I took one class. But she does not know me very well so I am not sure if she will give me a strong recommendation. Since I am applying for top programs, I need a very good letter of reference. On the other hand, I am pretty sure I will get strong letters from my employers. Last edited by McQueen : 2009 October 21st at 06:49 AM.

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2009 October 20th, 04:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
sweetu1995 Done with GRE/TOEFL Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: New York Posts: 363	I am in the same situation as you. I contacted my college and was fortunate to find 3 of my profs still working in the department. I got in touch with them and they did give me letter of reference's. Maybe you can call them first and then email. If the profs are working somewhere else you can still get their contact numbers from college.

2009 October 20th, 10:57 PM	#3 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	Thanks for the suggestion. I am glad it worked out for you, but in my case professors who taught me no longer live in the country from where I graduated. I studied in an international campus of an American University, professors were mostly Americans or British. Anyways, do you think having 2 LORs from employers and only one from Professor will have a negative impact on my admission? Thanks.

2009 October 21st, 03:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
sweetu1995 Done with GRE/TOEFL Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: New York Posts: 363	cant you get their contact details?

2009 October 21st, 06:45 AM	#7 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	Calculus professor knows me well, took 3 Calculus classes with him. Got the highest grades, he was kinda impressed by my performance. He even asked me to tutor students who were not doing great in maths. Having said that, I did get the highest score in the CS professors class too, but its just that there wasn't much interaction and don't know what kind of recommendation she would give.

2009 October 22nd, 07:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	Waiting for comments...

2009 October 23rd, 01:53 AM	#10 (permalink)
McQueen Eager! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 44	Thanks Luma. I tried all the ways, but don't seem to be able to contact them. During undergrad I did have projects but it was not research oriented, my work experience is more relevant to the kind of study I want to do during my graduate studies. Also, I am going to have LORs from the CEOs of my company, because both of them are with great technical background, and actively participate in R&D. It is more pertinent to get letter from the CEO for my current job (almost 5yrs now) because being a project leader I worked under his direct supervision, project manager had to do little with my project as I was doing everything from scheduling to task distribution & management. Generally schools take it negatively when they see letters for top management, is there anyway I could explain them why I am choosing them as my referees. Online applications do not seem to allow adding comments. One more thing... as I mentioned earlier, I have a great letter of reference (on paper) from my maths prof who taught me advanced mathematics, can I make use of it?

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