How do I get personal letters of recommendation for internships, research opportunities, and/or graduate school?
In order to get quality letters of recommendation, students must get to know UC Irvine faculty on a personal level. The best way to do this is to get involved in on-campus research, either by working with a professor on his/her project or by working with a faculty mentor on your own research project. For information on how to get involved in research, please visit the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) website. Our own personal recommendation to you would be to, at minimum, go to see your professors during their office hours. Most students do not take advantage of this tremendous opportunity so you shouldn’t have any difficulty with access. Sit in the front of your classes and participate in class discussions so the professor recognizes your face. It is important to to you on so many levels to get to know your professors and, aside from research, attending their office hours for one on one discussion is the only way you will have access to them. Getting to know your Te
