Teacher recommendations: Worth asking/how to ask?

Ein

Hey guys.

A bit of background on my present situation

I am a junior in college at present, and in the late fall I'm going to have to be applying to law schools for fall of 08. A lot of law schools require recommendations from school faculty - I am working on obtaining one from my pre-law advisor whom I have had a good deal of contact with, but he still recommends I get one from a professor as well, someone who has taught me.

With that in mind, during the fall semester I found a class on Defense Policy that I considered pretty easy and tried my best to make friends with the professor. I was severely hampered in this effort by problems with my back and spine, which kept me out of a lot of weeks of school back in the fall.

I figured I'd take another class with the same professor to try and make sure that he got to know me, but I am not so sure my efforts are paying off; the class I ended up taking with him meets once a week for three hour classes in which he mostly lectures and sends us away. I've gone to his office hours once, but really there was nothing for me to discuss with him there as there's pretty much no work that's been assigned in this course - it's like one paper and that's it.

I wanted to use this professor as my recommendation, but I'm not sure if I've managed to create enough of an impression to actually ask him for one. During the first semester I had him, I was out a lot while recovering from surgery. Once I was able to return to lectures and such, I think he may have actually started remembering who I was simply by the fact that I use a cane now (in fact, this seems to be how a lot of my professors actually remember me - apparently, as I learned today, one doesn't even know me by name, and I have been to her office hours repeatedly.) A lot of the trouble I'm having are that the classes at my college tend to be 150+ people so I am just a face in a crowd.

Now, I've finished the second semester with this guy, and I'm coming up on my last class with him. I am not sure what to do at this point - I don't know if he'd even give me a recommendation, as it doesn't seem like he knows me all that well, despite having taught me for the past year. I've tried to make an impression on him without being a desperate ass-kisser just for a recommendation, but I'm not sure of the following:

When should I ask him about a recommendation? Should I mention it to him via e-mail at some point, or in person at the last class? What's the best way to phrase this sort've thing? Do you guys think it's even worth trying? I get the feeling he only recognizes me by my cane at this point.

Edit: I realize this probably reads a bit disjointed and incoherently, but I'm tired. the tl;dr: I've taken this guys classes for two semesters, but the classes are huge and I don't know if he actually knows me, so I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to even ask for a recommendation... and if it is, I am not sure what the best method is to do so.

Hewn

If this is a recommendation the law school will be following up with, as in, not just reading the stock letter you'd likely get, I don't think you'd want to use a professor who hardly knows you. The most important thing with references is that they have something specific to say about your work or character. Again, otherwise you will get a very stock recommendation that will, at best, blend in with other applicants.

Being a teacher myself, though, you'd be surprised how often a teacher will remember a student even if the student feels invisible. The fact is, when we're talking for long periods of time we tend to look at people in the room and many hours of seeing the same faces, well, you start to remember them. Hell, you even start to pick up on when they are hitting the end of their laundry cycle.

If you ask, do it in person. Be very upfront and polite, and ask if he can help. Most instructors are more than happy to help a student, especially if they feel it is one that is deserving. Nobody gets to a teaching job at any level without, at some point, asking other teachers for recommendations. Your professor did the same thing at one point and probably grappled with the debate over who to ask - as you are.

At the end of the day, the worst thing that can happen is he can tell you he doesn't feel comfortable doing it. If he does agree, the worst thing that can happen is you'll get an average reference. Or who knows, maybe you're downplaying this whole "he doesn't know me thing" and you'll get a sparkling review. Point is, you won't know until you ask.

I'd also start thinking about any other potential references you can use, as a plan B. Are there no other classes you developed some sort of relationship with the professor? I can't stress how surprised you'd be that professors and teachers really do remember their students and habits, even if the names start to blend together.

Lewisham

I don't know whether this applies to law, but in the Sciences I think the absolute best way to get a glowing recommendation is to do research for the professor, which you might even get credit for. You'll work together, maybe meet individually once a week. It's excellent.

kaliyama

It's abit late for that advice now, isn't it? Well - assuming you don't have some sort of summer plans already.
If none of your profs know you, pursue him and try to research for him now so it feels natural and sensible when you ask him for a rec.

You need two for law school, and you should definately use any professors who know you well...the strength of the recommendation rests on how they talk about you; they're not impressed by a bland form letter from some well-known potentate.

Have you taken the LSAT yet? Honestly, your personal statement and letters of rec really don't matter unless you a) say something bad on them, or b) you're a borderline candidate for the school you want in at.

Pants Man

when i was applying to grad school, the hardest part for me was getting up the courage to ask people for letters. i got one from one of my geography professors who gave me some pretty great advice about how to get others:

suck it up and ask. don't think that "aw, i'll just be bugging prof, i don't want to be a bother," just bite the bullet and ask. every professor i've talked to about letters of recommendation has considered writing them as part of their job; if they don't feel comfortable writing one for you, they won't, but even if you don't know them personally, oftentimes your record in their class will speak for itself.

so as long as you didn't just sit in the back of class with your thumb up your ass for the entirety of the class, go for it. the worst ting they can do is say no, and that's not a big deal.

Walter

I am in the process of getting my med school letters of rec together right now. I've found that most profs are way more willing to help out than you'd expect. After talking to one a professor friend of mine he said that "its part of the job". I go in with a resume and a questionare filled out for them. The more info they have the better the letter they can write.
Good questions to fill out for them are:
Why are you asking me to write you a letter?
What does the letter need to look like to give you the best chance at getting in?
Have you done anything in my class that would make you stand out?
Where are you applying??
What makes you special as a student?
Why do you want to be a lawyer?