What to do if I have nobody to use for references?

sharpeimom · Oct 14, 2009

first of all, don't panic. my college professor husband writes lots of letters of reference for students he had last semester, last year, five years ago ... he wrote one over the weekend for a student he had almost 20 years ago. if it has been years, remind him/her whet class(es) you took, what year they were, whether it was fall or winter semester, that you usually sat in the middle of the far left row, etc. as a memory jog and it will help a lot and make it easier to write a better, less vague letter. most professors are more than glad to write a letter for a good student if you give then plenty of time. the ones that drive my husband nuts are the students who email tuesday and demand instead of request a letter and insist it be ready by thursday morning.

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 14, 2009

Do you do any volunteer work? Are you active in any organizations? etc. People you have worked with in those kinds of activities can attest to your ability to work with people, to your reliability, etc.

neonatal_nurse · Oct 14, 2009

Relax, dear. You can try to go to your school and ask some of your clinical instructors to make you one. You can come with a friend if your shy to go alone. Approach your "friendly" and "accomodating" instructors as they are most likely to give the most recommendation/reference letters. Or better yet, print out a prepared one so that they'll just sign it-- that's what I did with my Guidance Counselor friend.

caliotter3 · Oct 14, 2009

My nursing school made us write a generic letter of reference about ourselves for the signature of one of our instructors. We got a grade for the project and the finished letter was placed in our student folder for future use. I suggest after you get a former instructor's letter completed, that you make sure a copy is placed in your school folder in case the next time you need such a reference, that particular instructor is no longer affiliated with the school. Also, several past references have said they would sign a letter that I prepared because they didn't have the wherewithal to do it themselves. If it takes this bit of effort, it is worth it to get the letter you need. Good luck.

mell260 · Oct 14, 2009

Thank you all for the tips! I feel a bit better now, but still don't know who I would ask at my school really. I didn't have very many intimate small classes.

Would a co-worker work? Or are they really strict on it being a superior of yours?

mell260 · Oct 15, 2009

I really need to figure this out. Even if I volunteer some place for a few months, is that enough time for someone to "get to know me" well enough to be comfortable writing a reference?

My list of schools that I'm going to apply to is going to drop to like 2 if I can't come up with any references!!