Can a lab TA write me a letter of rec?

[2thHurty]

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Hey everyone!

I am planning to apply this coming cycle and am in the process of finalizing my letters of recommendation. Would dental schools look negatively upon a letter written by my physiology lab TA? She was the one that was the primary instructor and I did not see the professor once. I recognize that most schools prefer a faculty name but the professor does not co-sign letters unless he knows the student (i.e. from a different class). She is currently a grad student who has also recently been accepted to medical school. I think a letter from her would be stronger than a professor I barely know, given the size of the university I attend.

 

[sobertiger]

Hey everyone!

I am planning to apply this coming cycle and am in the process of finalizing my letters of recommendation. Would dental schools look negatively upon a letter written by my physiology lab TA? She was the one that was the primary instructor and I did not see the professor once. I recognize that most schools prefer a faculty name but the professor does not co-sign letters unless he knows the student (i.e. from a different class). She is currently a grad student who has also recently been accepted to medical school. I think a letter from her would be stronger than a professor I barely know, given the size of the university I attend.

You can add the letter, but not sure if it will count as a science letter, especially if she was the lab instructor, and not the lecturer.

Also, I'm not sure if physiology counts as basic science?

Finally, was she listed as the instructor? If not, that also may be problematic.

For reference, this is what Michigan says about their requirements:

"Two letters must be written by science professors who have taught and graded the applicant at the university level. Letters should be from basic science instructors (biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, microbiology). Science letters should include the course name and number."

That said, I think schools differ on what they accept, so you should do a quick search to look at the requirements for all the schools.

 

[JLT223]

Get a professor to write you a letter. It's a game we all sadly have to play.

 

[Its_Me_G]

It doesn’t matter how well they know you, but the letter cannot be from a TA. It has to be a science professor

 

[Bingwen]

Like the others have said a TA letter is not going to get you anywhere. From a dental school point of view a professor has likely seen students and has seen what students continued on and succeeded. Thus when they say that this student will do well in a graduate program they have data to show this. Dental schools are looking for more than this student did well in my class. A grad student doesn't have that experience so the opinion is not usually considered very highly.

 

[crumps]

While yes it is better to get the professor to write the letter of rec some dental schools do take letters from GSI that was co-signed by a professor. I got a letter of recommendation from my graduate student instructor from a upper division science class that was co-signed by the Prof. Got into UoP. I suppose it depends on the school requirements though

 

[hihihi123]

Hey everyone!

I am planning to apply this coming cycle and am in the process of finalizing my letters of recommendation. Would dental schools look negatively upon a letter written by my physiology lab TA? She was the one that was the primary instructor and I did not see the professor once. I recognize that most schools prefer a faculty name but the professor does not co-sign letters unless he knows the student (i.e. from a different class). She is currently a grad student who has also recently been accepted to medical school. I think a letter from her would be stronger than a professor I barely know, given the size of the university I attend.

I know someone that got one of his letters from his Chem TA and he still got into dental school. I don't know if that's an exception though. It might be best to actually contacts the schools that you want to apply to and ask them.