Do non-science letters of rec need to have the "Dr." designation?

[drtribbiani]

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Many of my humanities professors did not have PhD's , so I just want to make sure. Thanks!

 

[DameJulie]

It’s good to have a PhD title for the letter writers. E.g. professor, PhD in history

 

[Catalystik]

Many of my humanities professors did not have PhD's , so I just want to make sure. Thanks!

While PhDs signing a letter are great and higher academic titles are desirable, any faculty member will be fine. A personal letter from someone who knows you well and can give multiple anecdotes illustrating your outstanding characteristics, comparing you favorably with the top 5% of all their past students will trump a generic letter from a PhD who didn't even know your name.

 

[drtribbiani]

Thank you for the quick responses! I think I'll just stick with my "non-PhD" letter then.

 

[drtribbiani]

Feeding off this question.... Does what you put for "author title" when inputting your letters of evaluation matter? Or just the title that writer signs their letter with?

I forgot to input pH.D for my professors under author title, but I'm assuming they will sign their LORs with John Doe, pH.D?

Yeah I forgot to put down the organization name for my volunteer coordinator... I don't think this will matter. Hopefully one of the adcoms here can speak towards this