LORs when transferring grad schools - advice please

[Penguin]

Please do not quote.

 

My DS is in his first year of graduate school (masters), and he is going to try to transfer into a masters program at the university where he completed his undergrad. His reasons for wanting to transfer are sound, and I support the idea.

 

School A: He finished his undergrad there in May 2017. Would like to transfer into the masters program there for the 2018-2019 year.

School B: He is in his second semester of grad school. Excellent grades first semester.

 

 

Who should he ask for letters of recommendation? He needs two.

 

He had his undergrad profs in School A write the letters that got him into his current program. He only graduated last May, so the letters are recent. And since he is also applying to School A, then those professors are a known entity. It would be pretty easy for him to ask them to resend the letters they already wrote.

 

I am concerned that if he asks his current grad school professors at School B, that this could damage his relationship with the current program. Kind of like not asking your current employer to write a reference letter for you while you are job hunting. But of course letters from School B would be more recent.

 

If he doesn't get accepted at School A or the money does not come together, then he will probably stay in School B. It is a small department, and he does not want to damage any relationships or burn any bridges there.

 

(He gave me permission to ask the hive, BTW.)

 

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Penguin

[Frances]

I’m guessing it would be fine not to have any letters from School B. One year into a PhD program in one field, I applied to transfer to a different field and a different school. I just asked the same people from undergrad who had written my original letters. Like your son, I had excellent grades my first semester (and also excellent TA and research evaluations), but I didn’t ask for any letters from the first grad school and it turned out fine. If it matters, the second school was much higher ranked.

[Bootsie]

My answer would depend on a couple of things.  Is the masters degree in the same field as his undergraduate degree?  (in other words, are the professors who wrote the letters or recommendation any of the same professors who will have in the masters program and is there a possibility they are on the admissions committee?)  Did the professors at School A recommend at the time that he stay at the same school?  Did they thinK School B was a good match?  Has he talked to any of them regarding applying to School A now?  

[Penguin]

Good questions, jdahlquist, thank you.

 

Yes, the masters is in the same field as the undergrad. Yes, the profs at School A could be his profs again. I had not thought about them being on the admissions committee. It is a small department in a small school so they might be. Would that be a problem?

 

I don’t know what conversations he had with his profs about grad school when he was still an undergrad student. . He has not yet approached them again, but he has recently spoken with his undergrad advisor.

 

I think that the two schools are probably evenly ranked, but that School A will have a higher probability of leading him toward his long term goals. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that, maybe he should have tried to stay there. But he has learned a lot about himself and his goals this year. It has not been a waste. And some of his credits will might transfer.

 

I would be very surprised if School A did not accept him but one never knows until one applies. Finances could indeed be a problem, but again he won’t know until he applies.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Penguin

[Bootsie]

I think some depends on the field and the size of the school.  If it is an MBA program with 100+ students admitted each year, I think the approach of having his original LOR would be fine.  If it is a smaller program with more competitive admittance, I would strongly suggest that he reach out to his undergraduate advisor for advice of how this will be viewed.  At some point in the admissions process, the question of why he is leaving a program is going to come up.  That could be addressed in  a LOR by a faculty at School B, but there are other ways it could be addressed.   His undergraduate advisor could give him an idea of how this will be viewed by School A.  If he has strong feelings that there are differing academic philosophies between the two schools that is motivating his decision, he needs to express that to School A.  (Also, the original LOR writers will probably want to discuss this with him before they are willing to provide another letter.)

 

As a side note, IME very few credit hours transfer at the master's level.  Certain courses may not have to be repeated, but often another course must be taken instead to maintain a minimum number of grad hours at the school.  How soon is the application deadline at School A for the fall?