does the creditability of the LOR writer matter?

[Smooth Operater]

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How does LOR being valued in the admission process?

Would having a famous dental professor in the field be better than some assistant professor in chemistry when comes to writing LOR?

 

[aurora507]

How does LOR being valued in the admission process?

Would having a famous dental professor in the field be better than some assistant professor in chemistry when comes to writing LOR?

What matters the most is that the person can write a detailed & personal positive letter in support of you. Obviously if that person is a well-known professor or researcher, that would be awesome. But I don't think that it will matter if you get an unknown (outside your school) professor or TA, if he/she knows you well and can give evidence of your abilities and potential. Therefore I would say that it is much better to get someone you have a good relationship with than some famous person who will only write a generic letter for you.

 

[whiskeysour]

How does LOR being valued in the admission process?

Would having a famous dental professor in the field be better than some assistant professor in chemistry when comes to writing LOR?

in my opinion, a letter is a letter is a letter.

of course there are some exceptions. the dentist i shadowed is clinical professor at my top choice school. so YES, this letter WILL help me 🙂

 

[Dr JPH]

The credentials of the person writing the letter is ALWAYS important. Remember this when choosing who to ask for your LOR. Letters from TAs, Asst. Profs, etc are all great...and they can be immensely helpful if the person knows you well.

But, the same letter from the head of the dept. or from a well known clinician/researcher/professor carries much more weight.

I think its an even balance of content and credentials.

A glowing letter from a bottom tier prof weighs in the same as a very good letter from a head honco. Because the people reading the letter KNOW the head honcho...so if they took time to write the letter for you, there must be something positive to consider in your application.