LOR Question Forum

[winning]

I have read that getting an LOR from a person of very high stature can be detrimental to one's application because the AdCom will assume that you chose the person just for his/her name.

I was planning on getting one of my LORs from a very well known former government official who taught at my school. I took a small seminar taught by this person and worked as a research assistant for this person. And I'm sure the recommendation will be good because we have a good relationship and the recommender knows me well. But can the fact that it's a big name hurt my application?

Thanks!

[MumofCad]

No (it won't hurt you), I wrestled with this myself and decided to go another way, because I had worked with the person outside of academia. Totally different situation.

If the person taught you, the fact that they are a former government official is a non-issue. In fact, they are probably senior faculty, well-respected, etc and all that is a plus. The advice is geared towards those just looking to drop a name. I think it most often happens when someone interned on Capitol Hill or at the Governor's office, where they shuffled papers and answered phones. Then they get him to write a meaningless rec that really doesn't offer anything to the adcoms. In your case, go for it. I don't see how this differs from advice to get senior faculty to write.

[094320]

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[winning]

Thanks for the info folks. Much appreciated.