Letters of Recommendation for Online College?

[FNGTony]

Hello Marines and Candidates,

How would I go about obtaining my school-related letters of recommendation if the schools I have attended were all online?

I have attended University of Phoenix for 1.5 years and am transferring to Rio Salado Community College to finish up pre-reqs before transferring to Arizona State University to complete my degree online.

How do I get my letter of recommendation from the Dean and Professors if I never met them in person? What does the letter of recommendation have to say exactly? For example, does it need to be a personal letter or can it just detail my excellent attendance, grades, etc.?

Last question, should I study for the ASTB before I speak with my OSO for the first time, or will he give me time to study?

Basically, I am about to meet with my local OSO for the first time and would like to see how I go about all of this.

Should I just meet with him before I do anything? Or are there things I should complete before meeting with him that may help him out?

Sorry, I am a bit nervous/excited about all of this and want to make sure I do not screw any of the steps up.

Thank you very much for your responses,

Tony

 

[phrogpilot73]

Your OSO is probably prepared to handle all of your questions. I first met with an OSO when I was 18 years old (just after I graduated from boot camp). Most of them are good people, and will be more than happy to tell you what direction to go in. I'd say talk to the OSO, then come back here with specific questions. That, and RELAX. Many good people before you have screwed up worse, and are serving.

 

[FNGTony]

Your OSO is probably prepared to handle all of your questions. I first met with an OSO when I was 18 years old (just after I graduated from boot camp). Most of them are good people, and will be more than happy to tell you what direction to go in. I'd say talk to the OSO, then come back here with specific questions. That, and RELAX. Many good people before you have screwed up worse, and are serving.

Sir,

Thank you for your post, it means a lot. Not just saying that to be nice, I really mean it. Within the next two weeks I am going to contact my OSO and hopefully schedule an interview. At which point I will go to the interview dressed nice with a genuine, honest, and enthusiastic attitude and will answer each question given to me in the most honest way and hope to god he likes me!

Quick question, on my first interview I was thinking of wearing:

Dockers black dress shoes
Black dress socks
Dockers straight fit dress pants (Beige)
Tucked in nice polo T-Shirt
Black leather belt

Yay or nay? Any improvements I should make?

 

[HH-60H]

Quick question, on my first interview I was thinking of wearing:

Dockers black dress shoes
Black dress socks
Dockers straight fit dress pants (Beige)
Tucked in nice polo T-Shirt
Black leather belt

Yay or nay? Any improvements I should make?

If you are going with khaki/beige pants, do you have brown dress shoes and a matching (or nearly) belt? If so, I would go with those, I think black is too overpowering for khaki. Just look at brown vs black shoes for the Navy khaki uniform. Make sure you wear khaki/tan/beige socks if you go with brown shoes. In either case make sure the shoes are shined, or at least clean. If you don't know how, most cobblers will shine shoes and edge dress for $5-10.

Are your pants the proper length? If you bought them off the rack and never had them tailored, they're probably not. If you take them to a tailor, don't cuff them. Dockers are usually too heavy of a material for a cuff.

As for the shirt... What is a polo T-Shirt? It's either a polo or a t-shirt, it can't be both. If it has a collar, it's a polo, otherwise it's not. I would go with the polo if you have one. What do you mean by nice? At your stage in the game, I would say nice means ironed (at least not wrinkled), not faded, no holes, all the buttons, and properly fitting.

Also, considering your age (i.e. at least a couple years into college), I would invest in a pair of wool trousers (gray or navy), a decent button down dress shirt (white or blue) and a tie. The set can be your 'go to' dress clothes for the next few years for job interviews, weddings, and other important events. You can probably walk out of Men's Warehouse for $100-150, Jos A Bank with it x2 during a sale (which happen nearly continuously) for about the same, and nicer places (Nordstrom's, BB) for <$250 during a sale.

For what it's worth, I'm not saying that what you want to wear to the OSO isn't good/nice enough, I'm just saying that at this time in your life having something a little nicer around will start to come in handy.

Finally, don't ask us for advice and then totally blow us off... at a minimum lie and say you followed our advice.

 

[phrogdriver]

That just sounded like an episode of Project Runway. Brown and black don't go together. 'Nuff said.

Business casual is fine for an OSO meeting.

 

[HH-60H]

It's easy for you... you don't get to choose what you wear every day. On the outside, choosing the right thing can go a long way.... in general, not necessarily for meeting an OSO.

 

[livefreediehard]

How would I go about obtaining my school-related letters of recommendation if the schools I have attended were all online?

I have attended University of Phoenix for 1.5 years and am transferring to Rio Salado Community College to finish up pre-reqs before transferring to Arizona State University to complete my degree online.

How do I get my letter of recommendation from the Dean and Professors if I never met them in person? What does the letter of recommendation have to say exactly? For example, does it need to be a personal letter or can it just detail my excellent attendance, grades, etc.?

I had to go through this same process recently. As far as the Professor PIQ is concerned, just email a few of the professors from your online courses with an attached PIQ form and pick out the one that wrote the best one. Even though they are online courses they are still professors that qualify for your application.

For the Dean, you have to some research to see who is the Dean of Academics/Students for your university and email him/her or their assistant. This reponse might take some time but so these the entire application process.

In case you haven't received the packet yet, PIQs are a form that the Dean, a Professor, employer, and 3 personal references have to fill out. Since the Marines know that Deans really know their students, they have a special form where they check "Not Observed" for all the traits and just verify whether or not you were ever on any kind of probation while enrolled in the univeristy.

I hope this helps.