LoR from graduate student?
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:49 am
So a lot of the courses are taught by PhD students at our university... are recommendations from them less favored than a recommendation from a full-time professor?
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Ideally, it's probably better to have a recommendation from a full-time prof. However, if the grad instructor has actually worked with you, knows your work best, and will be able to write a strong letter with specific information about why you're a great applicant, that's better than a generic "good student, got an A" letter from a full-time prof. (The flip side is that if you have a relatively new grad instructor they probably don't have a lot of experience writing LORs...but the flip side to the flip side is that they themselves were probably getting LORs more recently than the full-time profs were, which may help.)armysgt wrote:So a lot of the courses are taught by PhD students at our university... are recommendations from them less favored than a recommendation from a full-time professor?
FTFY.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Ideally, it's probably better to have a recommendation from a full-time prof. However,if the grad instructor has actually worked with you, knows your work best, and will be able to write a strong letter with specific information about why you're a great applicant, that's better than a generic "good student, got an A" letter from a full-time prof.(The flip side is that if you have a relatively new grad instructor they probably don't have a lot of experience writing LORs...but the flip side to the flip side is that they themselves were probably getting LORs more recently than the full-time profs were, which may help.)
This is true. In fact, letters from well-known/famous profs are likely to not help you because it is assumed you chose that person thinking adcoms would be impressed. You want them to be impressed by YOU, not who you know.TripTrip wrote:FTFY.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Ideally, it's probably better to have a recommendation from a full-time prof. However,if the grad instructor has actually worked with you, knows your work best, and will be able to write a strong letter with specific information about why you're a great applicant, that's better than a generic "good student, got an A" letter from a full-time prof.(The flip side is that if you have a relatively new grad instructor they probably don't have a lot of experience writing LORs...but the flip side to the flip side is that they themselves were probably getting LORs more recently than the full-time profs were, which may help.)
The credentials of the letter do not matter in the least. It is the content that matters. You could have a senior undergraduate TA writing the letter for you and it would be preferred to the prof if they could write more intelligibly about you in particular.
But didn't y'all just say that it doesn't matter who writes it if the content is good?B90 wrote:This is true. In fact, letters from well-known/famous profs are likely to not help you because it is assumed you chose that person thinking adcoms would be impressed. You want them to be impressed by YOU, not who you know.TripTrip wrote:FTFY.A. Nony Mouse wrote:Ideally, it's probably better to have a recommendation from a full-time prof. However,if the grad instructor has actually worked with you, knows your work best, and will be able to write a strong letter with specific information about why you're a great applicant, that's better than a generic "good student, got an A" letter from a full-time prof.(The flip side is that if you have a relatively new grad instructor they probably don't have a lot of experience writing LORs...but the flip side to the flip side is that they themselves were probably getting LORs more recently than the full-time profs were, which may help.)
The credentials of the letter do not matter in the least. It is the content that matters. You could have a senior undergraduate TA writing the letter for you and it would be preferred to the prof if they could write more intelligibly about you in particular.
That's not... What? That's not the point. If, say, the President of the United StatesB90 wrote:This is true. In fact, letters from well-known/famous profs are likely to not help you because it is assumed you chose that person thinking adcoms would be impressed. You want them to be impressed by YOU, not who you know.
then that's fine for an LOR too. The point here is that a recommender's prestige is much less important than what he has to say -- whether he is famous or not.A. Nony Mouse wrote:has actually worked with you, knows your work best, and will be able to write a strong letter with specific information about why you're a great applicant
Yeah, we did. Disregard, dude, disregard.A. Nony Mouse wrote:But didn't y'all just say that it doesn't matter who writes it if the content is good?B90 wrote:This is true. In fact, letters from well-known/famous profs are likely to not help you because it is assumed you chose that person thinking adcoms would be impressed. You want them to be impressed by YOU, not who you know.
Nah, it seemed like she was trying to suggest that a recommender's prestige could actually hurt an application because AdComms would think that you "were trying too hard to impress them." That's the first time I've seen anyone take it the opposite direction like that, but it's just as wrong as thinking a LOR from a TA would hurt.TripTrip wrote:I think B90 was just trying to make a point that prestige doesn't matter for LoR writers. Even if the POTUS writes your letter, you won't fare any better than another applicant who had a TA write a better letter.
I was about to give the default "nope!" answer, but then I realized there is a bit of truth to what you're saying. One of my recommenders (prof) showed me the letter she wrote. Her teaching experience includes undergrad and grad, and she even co-taught a course at a law school. At one point in her three page letter, she said, "In my years of teaching, I would rank [TripTrip] as my top student." If you can find a professor to knock it out of the park for you like that, definitely go for it.A. Nony Mouse wrote:I will give one further plug for the prof - generally, a prof is more likely to be able to convincingly say something like, "X is in the top 10/5/1% of x,000 students I have taught over 20 years" than a PhD student. However, I totally agree that this is all else being equal. Content > author status.
This is partly what I meant.TripTrip wrote:I think B90 was just trying to make a point that prestige doesn't matter for LoR writers. Even if the POTUS writes your letter, you won't fare any better than another applicant who had a TA write a better letter.
If you feel that the TA can write at length about your having a few of the above qualities, then go for it. If not, find someone who can. Note, however, that you should try to get two academic LORs.The Ivey Guide to Law School Admissions wrote: Recommendation Content
Feel free to print this section out for your recommenders if they ask for your input or guidance. Recommenders will need to write one global letter that will work for all the schools you apply to. Here are some typical qualities that law schools care about as they put together an incoming class:
Similarly, if you have to ask an employer or former employer for a recommendation because you are unable, at this stage in your life, to track down enough professors from your college days, try to pick one who can address the skills that law schools will care about the most. Here are some examples:
- • Intellect and native intelligence (your academic horsepower)
• Academic performance (what you’ve done with that horsepower)
• Analytical skills and reasoning ability
• Written communication skills
• Oral communication skills
• Independence of thought and creativity
• Quality of class participation
• Work ethic and self-discipline
• Enthusiasm and dedication
• Character and ethics
• Maturity and common sense
• Leadership qualities (can be thought leadership)
• Potential for the study of law (to the extent they can judge)
• Resilience, stick-with-it-ness, grit
• Cooperativeness and concern for others
Don’t ask your recommender to opine on all of these, just the ones he feels competent to discuss based on his experience with you.
- • Your analytical skills
• Your writing skills
• Your speaking skills
• Your research skills
• Your attention to detail
• Your persuasive skills
• Your problem-solving skills
• Your presentation and soft skills (the “can we put her in front of employers/clients” test)