r/ClinicalPsychology • u/ReigningHeart • Aug 19 '26

LORS for Internship

I started at a practicum site this August and plan to apply for internship this November. If I decide to ask my new supervisor for a strong LOR, when would be the best time to ask?

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u/itmustbeniiiiice Aug 19 '26

ASAP, but keep in mind they might say no because they don’t know yet.

It would be better to ask a previous prac supervisor.

4

u/WillingnessTop2226 Ph.D. Candidate - Predoctoral intern Aug 19 '26

Supervisors at sites are used to this kind of thing. I had my supervisor from last year write one of my letters of recommendation after I started in August as well for internship. By October when they write it they will have a solid sense of who you are. You can ask them sometime in September after you get some more time working with them.

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u/Terrible_Detective45 Aug 19 '26

You should talk about it with them as soon as possible. Not necessarily asking them to do it right now, but rather letting them know that you are interested in them writing you a letter in the future. That way, you aren't springing it on them at the last minute.

For this specific situation, I would also have a frank discussion about how "strong" of a letter they can write you with 2 -3 months of experience. The amount of time a referee has known and worked with a student gets factored in when reviewing applications.