LOR from lower level core class? Forum

[WaltGrace83]

I bet this has been answered before but I tried searching and returned nothing.

I am in my last semester with a GPA over every schools' 75% and am taking the LSAT in June with 5 months of nothing but studying starting next month (and a little bit of work here and there to pay the small bills). I am going for YHS or T14 with a big scholly. I have already asked for two LORs and will probably ask for a third one from my English capstone professor after this semester. My questions are the following:

1) One of my LOR which I hope will be strong is actually from an adjunct professor for one my 100 level theology classes I took last year for a requirement. While he does not really have a high position, I have remained in good contact with him and I was a boss in his class. I participated, he understood my goals, he thought very very highly of me, and told me that I was one of the best students he has ever had. I did a little bit of essay writing in this class and he loved my work. Considering where I am going for - should I ditch this LOR and go for another 400 level professor? TCR usually says that it doesn't matter who writes the letter but when people generally say that it refers to a 0L asking "should I have a friend of the dean write it who doesn't know me at all?" I have never heard of someone getting a letter from a 100 level required class.

2) Does getting an A in the class the most important thing? This capstone class I am taking is the hardest class I have ever had and I might get an A-. Would YHS think that it is odd that I am requesting a LOR from a professor who didn't ace me? The reason why I think this professor would write a good LOR is because it is a small class, the most advanced class you can take in my UG department, and it is centered on writing huge argumentative papers.

TLS is a godsend. Thanks guys.

[wealtheow]

I bet this has been answered before but I tried searching and returned nothing.

I am in my last semester with a GPA over every schools' 75% and am taking the LSAT in June with 5 months of nothing but studying starting next month (and a little bit of work here and there to pay the small bills). I am going for YHS or T14 with a big scholly. I have already asked for two LORs and will probably ask for a third one from my English capstone professor after this semester. My questions are the following:

1) One of my LOR which I hope will be strong is actually from an adjunct professor for one my 100 level theology classes I took last year for a requirement. While he does not really have a high position, I have remained in good contact with him and I was a boss in his class. I participated, he understood my goals, he thought very very highly of me, and told me that I was one of the best students he has ever had. I did a little bit of essay writing in this class and he loved my work. Considering where I am going for - should I ditch this LOR and go for another 400 level professor? TCR usually says that it doesn't matter who writes the letter but when people generally say that it refers to a 0L asking "should I have a friend of the dean write it who doesn't know me at all?" I have never heard of someone getting a letter from a 100 level required class.

2) Does getting an A in the class the most important thing? This capstone class I am taking is the hardest class I have ever had and I might get an A-. Would YHS think that it is odd that I am requesting a LOR from a professor who didn't ace me? The reason why I think this professor would write a good LOR is because it is a small class, the most advanced class you can take in my UG department, and it is centered on writing huge argumentative papers.

TLS is a godsend. Thanks guys.

the answer to both of your questions is no.
what matters is that a person in academia can speak to your competence, ideally in a broader context (i.e., one of best students in X years of teaching). tough graders can be some of the best letter writers. TAs can be the best, too, especially for people whose classes were so huge and impersonal a professor was impossible to connect with. also, at least where i went, ALL the professors, whether full or visiting, were all required to take turns teaching intro level, to be fair, so it had nothing to do with a given professor's position. not sure if that's how it works at your school.

[drevo]

I'm sure others will have more detailed responses but I'm in a similar situation of getting a letter of rec from a former core teacher and this is what I came up with:

1) If the recommender knows you and your academic potential well and will write a glowing letter then it doesn't really matter that it was a 100 class. I have a letter of rec from an instructor who taught me in a Rhetoric 100 and Rhetoric 200 class. But he loved me and my writing. So much so that when he got hired as an editor at a start up magazine he contacted me and extended an offer to be a writer for that magazine despite me being a finance major and having no journalism experience. On top of that I have an amazing relationship with him and he has a graduate degree in literature. All these things result in the strongest letter I could possibly hope for. And I think having a letter make you sound like an absolute stud is much more important than the level of class that person taught you. Obviously I'm sure if you have a professor who feels like this and also happens to be your 400 level capstone class instructor would be the best possible situation but that isn't going to be an option for most.

2) I don't see why it would matter. My other LoR is from an upper division finance professor who I have now taken twice. First time I got an A- (currently in the second class). His classes are notoriously tough but he is also everyone's favorite finance professor because you actually learn useful things in his class. Other people who have already gone through the application process might have more insight to this but I really don't see an issue, especially when you're talking A- vs. A.

[bp shinners]

1) Get the letter from the professor who will say that you're one of the best students he ever had, no matter what level the class was.

2) As long as the letter will say great things, it won't matter that you earned only an A-.