Thinking about b-school recommendations as an undergrad?
I'm graduating from undergrad in 2 weeks and am currently planning on applying to business school in 2-4 years. Talking to my peers looking at other types of grad schools, apparently it is common to ask for a teacher recommendation while still in undergrad, even if you aren't applying to grad school immediately, because you know the professor a lot better now and might as well get them to commit to doing it/start writing while they still remember your name.
For business school, how do people handle these recommendations? I looked at HBS and they ask for 2 recommendations- is it customary to do one from a professor and one from an employer? Am I being crazy and the standard is to not have a professor recommendation?
I have some professors that I am sort of close with that I'm sure would be happy to write me a rec if asked, but they all teach huge classes and I'm worried I will get lost in the void if I ask for a rec 2 years from now. Finally, I thought about just having them write the rec now and I submit it later when I do apply, but looking at HBS's rec format it appears that there is some online questionnaires they need to fill out, so I don't think that would be possible to do before I've applied.
Hi Intern in IB-M&A, don't worry, the WSO Monkey Bot is here.... I'm hoping one of these links will help find your answer:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
bump
Every b-school I applied for had you send an email to the recommending teacher directly from the system. So you were not able to send in your PDFs you have as a recommendation, the professor had to fill out a new one with the school's application system.
In short: You most likely won't be able to use it. However, recommendations are always good to have, so might as well get some.
Most M7 specifically ask for a manager recommendation - the best combination, I found, was one from a manager and one from someone who oversaw you in a volunteer capacity.
Professor recommendations 4 years out is pretty weak, imo. The idea for recs is to for these people to reinforce the themes you are trying to show off in your application, there is no way to pre-do this.
My advice is to wait and build good relationships with direct managers over these next 2-4 years.
I very much agree with jhd311's advice here. A professor recommendation can be useful in circumstances where you have very limited options (for example, you ran a startup immediately out of school and therefore never had a supervisor). You also want to make sure the professor knows you very well (doesn't sound like this is the case, sounds like you're just another student who is performing well in the class). As you seem to be going down the traditional path of employment out of school, the professor's recommendation will be relatively weak compared to what you can get from the workplace. Similarly, you are going to want to craft a consistent story about your past accomplishments and how they link to future goals. It is very challenging to do this years in advance as our interests and capabilities change so much in our 20s.
Libero vel beatae aperiam architecto hic placeat accusamus. Corporis fugiat est vel earum. Eos ut nostrum praesentium possimus ut iure provident.
Et fugit nobis dolore expedita. Itaque provident eos quidem autem consequuntur. Inventore est est delectus voluptas modi. Delectus ab aut quisquam deserunt. Maiores maxime veritatis non.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...