[Rayne Selene]

I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately to figure out what I want and where I'm going with life, and then to get there as fast as possible. My undergraduate experience has been tumultuous, and I'm finally about to graduate. I know that I want a Master's degree, and I want one in a different field from my undergraduate field. I've always wanted to do Computer Science, but never told anyone because I didn't feel I was "smart" enough. After a lot of thinking and a big meltdown earlier this week, I finally decided to just go for it--because I'm always going to wonder what could have happened. This means 6 months to a year of pre-requisites before even applying to the master's. I'm probably going to have to start paying off my undergraduate loans, something I was trying to avoid by staying in school. But I can do it.

I've started taking classes through coursera to just advance my knowledge and help me prepare. I was feeling really inspired and excited.

Then today, I started getting emails in response from some of my past professors that I had requested letters of recommendation from. They're all the same: "We don't provide letters of rec for online students." Wait, what? I take online classes through my university because I work 60 hours/ week and a conventional schedule just doesn't work for me. I also have a lot of social anxiety and classrooms severely stress me out.

I'm a good student. I work hard. The classes I requested letters from were all professors who left extensive comments praising my papers and discussion posts..teachers I felt knew me and liked my point of view and my effort.

Now I just feel sad. I feel like I'm not cut out to succeed. I can't seem to do anything right. I'm really frustrated with everything.

that is very discouraging to have that barrier put up. I wonder if you could talk to someone higher up like the dean of the dept or something. That doesn't seem fair. To be honest, it's not surprising to me either. But maybe you can explain your case. Or ask them for an alternative of what you should do.

Is it a requirement? Applying for a Master's degree doesn't require any recommendation letters as far as I know. Computer Science is a good field and currently high in demand, and it's likely to remain the same when you graduate. I would study it if I went back in time. Don't be discouraged by anyone. Keep going. Good luck

[scorpiosis37]

Applying to a master's program does require recommendation letters-- just like applying to college and applying to doctoral programs. In most cases, they require three letters of recommendation.

To the OP, could you maybe take just one in-person course to get to know the professor? If you have one letter from a computer science professor, you could have other letters from professors in other fields who can attesr to other strengths.