Letters of Recommendation Question...

[MoeLuvsMoney]

Hi Forum,

At most of the schools I am looking at, they ask for one letter of recommendation from a current supervisor.

Problem: My current supervisor would not look favorably on me leaving for grad school.

While I am confident they could write a great recommendation, I am also sure they would purposely sandbag the letter in an attempt to keep me in my current position.

Has anyone had a similar issue and know of a workaround?

Thanks!
MLM

[eskimoroll]

Hi Forum,

At most of the schools I am looking at, they ask for one letter of recommendation from a current supervisor.

Problem: My current supervisor would not look favorably on me leaving for grad school.

While I am confident they could write a great recommendation, I am also sure they would purposely sandbag the letter in an attempt to keep me in my current position.

Has anyone had a similar issue and know of a workaround?

Thanks!
MLM

This is a pretty normal issue. Find an alternate recommender and then explain your situation in the optional essay. Most schools should expect a fair number of these situations and shouldn't count it against you.

[MoeLuvsMoney]

Thank you, eskimoroll! I was worried about it but knew I could not be the only one.

I appreciate the confirmation.

[Jessica@VeritasPrep]

I agree with the previous poster's advice, however, this is only the case if you are certain of your supervisor's response. While many managers are, understandably, a little upset when their employees leave for business school, it is usually an emotion that is short lived. A decent manager wants the best for his/her employees. If this person thinks highly of you, he/she would not purposely sandbag your application (and if your manager is really that type of a person - I'd consider finding a new job!). Most managers will surprise you. Of course, there are situations in which a manager may not promote you because they realize you are going to leave the company within the year or you may not get good projects to work on because they realize you aren't invested in the company. These are all valid reasons to look for a different recommender (but your recommender should still be someone you know in a professional capacity - another colleague at work, or even a client if appropriate, etc.).

Also, be mindful of how you explain the situation to the Adcom, applicants sometimes use this as an excuse if they think that their manager will write something negative. Absent a managers LOR, you will need to point to a record of promotions, additional responsibilities and high performance rankings in order to demonstrate that you have been successful in the workplace!

Hope this helps.