i've been out for almost 2 years, and emailed the prof's out of the blue.

i'm having lunch with them to catch them up to speed on my life, show them my portfolio, letter of intent, etc.

i think going this route of "let's catch up, and by the way i'd also like a letter of rec" rather than straight for the letter is better.

if you think about it, the longer you wait to email them, the longer it will be since you last spoke, so i'd say get to it!

good luck!

I've been out of school for 4 years and have asked 3 profs. They all said they remember me and would love to give recs. Only one wants to meet up. The other two are fine with email.
I don't have my portfolio or letter of intent sorted out yet though. Are those the kind of things they're expecting when we meet for coffee?

And what " the archinect applying for graduate school feature" are you talking about? There's a feature on archinect about applying to grad school besides the forum? Where?

Im in a similiar boat, but i'm even more screwed. I've been out of school almost 8 YEARS and have no idea what to even ask prof's about a letter of recommendation. Many of the prof's that I had during school are no longer tenured, as many of them retired during the end of John Hejduk's reign at Cooper Union. Is it ok to ask for letters from profs that did not teach design studio?

Any ideas on how to go about this? Thanks for you help.

uh....i applied to school after 10 years. i know it feels daunting but you just have to pick up that phone and call them. the longer you've been out of school, i feel it's more courteous to call them. also, calling them will refresh their memory of you. 3 yrs. not that bad, not bad at all actually.

Thanks everyone for easing the stress. 10 years is a long time. Think i should do alright. I like the idea of bringing a portfolio just to show them i haven't been sitting on my butt since graduation.

Another worry is requesting old professors to complete multiple online rec's for different programs. Anybody find any resistance to this sort of request?

an additional question: should I call or email my professor??? I'm thinking about emailing first( so I give them extra time to retrieve in their memory), but is it too impersonal to email? thanks

passerby -- I believe it's in the features section. Go to the front page, there's probably a link somewhere.

chicarchitect -- you don't need design studio teacher recs, but they are (as you can imagine) usually more indicative of your design skill. It doesn't matter whether your old prof's are still tenured -- they were still your profs when you had them, and they taught you. Track down your old design studio profs and email them.

How hard is this? You email them and ask them if they could write you a good letter.

Warning: something seems fishy when the first 3 profs on your list respond and claim that they will willingly write you good recs. Typically there is one or two that ignore your response, and at least one that acts indifferently. Maybe they're setting you up. Keep an eye out.

Is that warning for me? Why would you think that? They all got together to conspire against me? That's odd if they did.

I was a fine arts graduate with a major in painting. I had all 3 recs involved in my thesis somehow and all loved my work. That's one of the reasons they remember me I think. I didn't think they would after 4 years. Although admittidely I was anti social back then and didn't extend myself like I should have so that's why I was kind of worried about the recommendations. I didn't really take the time to build bridges. going through growing pains. But I don't think I did anything to them that will result in a set up. I was just socially awkward.

Anyone have any experience with this?

The warning is about follow-through, not intent.

No faculty will promise to write your recommendation with no intention of doing it. However, some will offer to, then forget or procrastinate. Best to line up at least the minimum number of recommenders, then add another one or two, to make sure you meet the minimum. Worst case: you end up with more letters than you need.

Tips:

-allow enough time (deadline minus 2 months)
-follow up (deadline minus 1 month)
-follow up again (deadline minus 1 week, "with apologies for pestering, but knowing how very busy you are with other tasks")

I applied after 7 years of being out of school...call the professor if you live out of town, if you live near find out the office hours and go visit. Have a copy of your resume, work samples if you have them, and your personal statement and tell them what they meant to you as a professor, what you got our of their classes, and why you are asking them for a reference. It's really not that hard. Chose professors that you had a small, upper division class with-more than likely when you refresh their memory, they will remember you.