I am happy to write reference letters for students who have taken one or more of my courses. As a rule of thumb, however, if we did not have any interactions beyond your attending lectures and handing in assignments or exams, then your letter will not be very personalized beyond what I can observe from your transcript and course grades. This does not mean that you won't get into grad school or that I would write you a bad letter; as a student, I rarely went to office hours and didn't get to know my profs very well and I did just fine! It does mean, however, that if we did not interact very much, that the things I can say about you will be more limited.

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The letters I write always provide an honest assessment of your potential to do well in whatever program you have applied for, and this assessment will depend in part on how well you've done in my course(s); this sometimes means that you may be better off asking another instructor who has seen you do well in their course. In addition, at least for economics graduate programs, it is often better to ask instructors who have taught you in rigorous, challenging core courses like micro or econometrics.

 

Nonetheless, if you believe I am your best choice for writing a reference letter for graduate school, I am happy to do so if I am able. When emailing me about letters, it would be helpful to include an unofficial transcript (from LORIS) as well as a resume if you have one. Please feel free to get in touch!