I was a humanities major in undergrad and am now applying for a master's in engineering. The program I'm considering is a three-year MS that explicitly targets students without engineering backgrounds. To apply, all they require is proficiency in first-semester calculus. Besides a stats elective and AP credits, I didn't take formal math courses in college, but since graduating, I've self-studied the calculus sequence and differential equations, and I am currently working on linear algebra.
My concern is with getting letters of recommendation that will be relevant to the admissions committee. I have one recommender, my undergraduate thesis advisor, who can attest to my research skills and time management. For the second letter, I think it would be ideal to have someone who can speak to my math ability, as I can imagine that admissions will regard my self-study with skepticism. However, I've been out of college for a year and a half and now work overseas, so seeking a reference from someone in my university's math department is impractical.
Do you have any ideas for how someone in my situation could get a letter of reference from someone who can directly address my potential as an engineer?
Failing that, or perhaps in addition, can you suggest any concrete ways I can demonstrate my math ability to the admissions committee?
I've taken a look at these two questions:
- Who to ask for letters of recommendation when changing fields after PhD?
- When changing fields from undergrad to PhD, which department should recommendation letters come from?
I believe my question is distinct since I am looking to make a much more drastic switch between fields, and my competitors are also people who are changing fields.
Both my undergraduate institution and the graduate program in question are in the US.