LOR from professor > LOR from TA? Forum

[alexjinye]

I already have three LORs, one from employers and two from graduate teaching assistants who taught me in undergraduate classes. Should I still ask one letter from my undergraduate law professor? Is it way better to have a letter from my professor? I guess the content of those letters are similar.

[malleus discentium]

I already have three LORs, one from employers and two from graduate teaching assistants who taught me in undergraduate classes. Should I still ask one letter from my undergraduate law professor? Is it way better to have a letter from my professor? I guess the content of those letters are similar.

Good academic letters > good professional letters. Three letters is excessive unless they are all stellar.

[A. Nony Mouse]

A letter from someone who knows your academic abilities and will speak specifically about how wonderful you are is better than a a generic letter from someone who doesn't know much about you, regardless of the author's rank.

[alexjinye]

ty.

[ihenry]

Some schools don't actually allow you to assign 4 letters and even if they do, I doubt they would be bothered to read all of them. And I'd go out on a limb to suggest you to submit one from your prof. Graduate TAs don't really seem like faculty to me; they are students themselves anyway.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Some schools don't actually allow you to assign 4 letters and even if they do, I doubt they would be bothered to read all of them. And I'd go out on a limb to suggest you to submit one from your prof. Graduate TAs don't really seem like faculty to me; they are students themselves anyway.

If the TA knows your work better and can speak more specifically to your actual accomplishments in the course, and the prof can't, submit the letter from the TA. If they're otherwise completely equal letters, the prof is probably a little better. But the better letter trumps the status of the author.