Are Letters and Evaluations the Same? Forum
- warandpeace
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:43 pm
Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
I have one professor who has done an evaluation instead of a letter of rec for me. Should I ask for a letter, or is an evaluation fine?
- Balthy
- Posts: 665
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 12:28 pm
Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
Evaluations are not required and, moreover, not very valuable without comments. Letters (usually 2) are required.
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- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:05 pm
Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
Yep, most schools don't care much about the evals. They rank you from 1-10. Guess what everyone gets.superdingle2000 wrote:Evaluations are not required and, moreover, not very valuable without comments. Letters (usually 2) are required.
- warandpeace
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:43 pm
Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
Quick follow up question, will it matter if my two letters are from 1 professor and 1 administrator/advisor (non-professor)? Or should I ask that evaluator (a professor) to write me a letter as well?
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Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
I doubt it'll matter. An advisor can be a decent choice, especially if they can write a more personal letter than another professor.warandpeace wrote:Quick follow up question, will it matter if my two letters are from 1 professor and 1 administrator/advisor (non-professor)? Or should I ask that evaluator (a professor) to write me a letter as well?
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- Balthy
- Posts: 665
- Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 12:28 pm
Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
warandpeace wrote:Quick follow up question, will it matter if my two letters are from 1 professor and 1 administrator/advisor (non-professor)? Or should I ask that evaluator (a professor) to write me a letter as well?
So you mean administrative advisor and not someone like a thesis advisor? I've heard many adcoms say a TA or thesis advisor who knows you well is better than a prof who doesn't, but I don't know if that would extend to administrative advisors (people who just help with choosing classes, graduating on time, etc., right?).
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- Posts: 3086
- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:05 pm
Re: Are Letters and Evaluations the Same?
Yea, if it's the latter, that won't be too useful of a letter. They really need to be in a position to evaluate your academic work.superdingle2000 wrote:warandpeace wrote:Quick follow up question, will it matter if my two letters are from 1 professor and 1 administrator/advisor (non-professor)? Or should I ask that evaluator (a professor) to write me a letter as well?
So you mean administrative advisor and not someone like a thesis advisor? I've heard many adcoms say a TA or thesis advisor who knows you well is better than a prof who doesn't, but I don't know if that would extend to administrative advisors (people who just help with choosing classes, graduating on time, etc., right?).
The exception to this would be if you were in a ridiculously difficult major and didn't shy from the hard classes, thus resulting in a lower GPA. You can sometimes get a decently effective letter written by someone in that capacity talking about the rigorous nature of your course load, comparing you to the average student/in that major. You can't say that stuff yourself, and it won't change your GPA, but it can sometimes help put things in context without you saying it yourself.