What If You Don't Have Anyone To Recommend You? If you find yourself in the difficult position of not having anyone to ask for recommendations, perhaps because you didn't do well in previous courses or were too shy to be noticed, try to rectify this now. If you are in your junior year in college, follow the suggestions above. If you are in your senior year it will probably be too late to do research, but you may be able to do outstandingly in a couple of important courses and cultivate your adviser. If you are already out of school, think about enrolling in enough classes to earn recommendations. If you are applying to graduate school some years after having received your bachelor's, professors More Links Recommendation Letter What makes a good Letter Letter of Recommendation for Graduate Students Model Letter Strategies for obtaining Letter of Recommendation What if you don't have a Recommender. may have forgotten who you are. Letters from employers will carry relatively little weight with admissions if you are applying to graduate school some years after having received your bachelor's, professors may have forgotten who you are. Letters from employers will carry relatively little weight with admissions committees except in applied fields with close links to the working world. The least costly response to this problem is to re contact undergraduate teachers and remind them who you are. You could start by writing a letter describing who you are, why you are applying to graduate school, and reminding them of your outstanding accomplishments. Send copies of recent work you have done in the field, if any, and mention other recent accomplishments in the letter. Try to give each professor the feeling that he will be writing a recommendation for someone who has been moving forward since he last saw you. You could follow up this letter with a meeting to become re-acquainted, using the excuse that you want his advice on applying to graduate school. During the meeting you can bring him up to date on what you have been doing and impress him with your determination. When someone spends time with you in person they are more likely to feel positive about you and wish to help you succeed. If you can make a good impression the teacher may feel more comfortable about writing a strong letter.