Asking a TA for a Science LoR

[SomniusLumen]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. So I looked through past threads about this topic and I saw a variety of answers but the general consensus was that asking a lab T.A for an LoR is not a very good idea unless the lab instructor signs off on it. In my situation, I think that may be possible, but there's another factor I was curious about:

My lab TA who I wanted to get an LoR from is a PhD student at my large state school. The one thing is that she actually has an MD. She received it from a country where women aren't typically allowed to hold such a degree unless they're in the top 99% percentile of their class. Obviously, she never did residency, but she does have a MD from a foreign country.

Given all this, my questions are:

1.) Would she be good to get a LoR from? My theory was that she would be able to explain how I exhibit qualities that she knows are important for medical school and so forth. But then again, she is a FMG. I don't know if that plays into this.

2.) Would the lab instructor still need to sign off on it? If my TA had an MD, does it still require the signature of the lab instructor (who has a PhD)?

3.) Her English is not the best, and thus if there are any typos or anything in the LoR, will it be looked down upon by the ADCOMS?

Thanks so much for reading through this, and I hope you all have a great day!

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[NYCNative]

1. Bad idea; her FMG MD status is almost irrelevant

2. Get your lab instructor to write the letter if anybody

3. Write the letter for her to give the lab instructor to sign as his own

Just some suggestions

 

[Elevencents]

Horrible idea IMO. Much better off finding another letter writer.

 

[Cinclus]

TA letter-writers are a no-no, in general. I was asked by a med-school hopeful back when I was a TA, and I gave them the same advice.

 

[Dr.Forssmann]

what i did was I gave them a cover letter that included stories about me that qualified the statements that they were gonna make in the letter of recommendation. Even if they didn't know me they could use the stories to validate there recommendation. IDK. you could ask the TA to provide some stories that you could take to the professor. I think that would help alot in write the letter. make sure to give them a digital copy and a hard copy so they can COPY AND PASTE. lol

i agree with NYCnative^^^

 

[crimsonkid85]

Get it cosigned by your professor.

 

[SomniusLumen]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad I realized this so I can actively search out another science professor. I T.A for a statistics professor and I'm using her, but so far I'm finishing up my pre-reqs and my classes are huge.

Thanks again for the help!