Getting LOR simply based on name recognition - good idea?

[Lukkie]

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Is it worth obtaining a letter of recommendation from a faculty member simply because they are a world renowned person in the field? They really don't know me that well personally so I would be giving them my CV, personal statement, etc, and they'd probably just write a basic summary letter (student volunteered many hours in the hospital, this shows he is interested in medicine; student did excellent research in the lab, this shows he is intelligent, etc) with their name signed on the end.

What are your thoughts on this? This would be just one letter, the rest of the letters are from faculty that know the student well.

 

[sleepy425]

well, even though it's still one letter, I just think it's a waste of everyone's time. it's a waste of your time to go ask the person to write it, it's a waste of his/her time to actually write it, and it's a waste of time for a committee to read it, only to realize that it's a summary of the rest of your application.

I doubt it will hurt you, but I don't think it will help you at all, no matter how famous the person is. Even if that famous recommender knew you really well, it still would probably be just as beneficial to you as any other faculty recommender who knew you just as well.

 

[ar2388]

it depends. i got a letter like this from the guy at mt sinai bc the head of the adcom said that if this guy "said i am the real deal then i am the real deal" so i made sure to get it

 

[Soon to be Dr E]

Yeah, I've got a letter from a world renowned physician that I'm really counting on. But I also have been working for him for 9 months now. I guess its probably too late to do much for this faculty member your talking about, but you could always see if he has any projects you could help him with or work on with him for a while.

Right now I'm trying to collaborate with another DR on two papers he's writing. Do some literature review, and help organize some of his data so its easier and quicker for him to write.

But like the others said, if its purely a summary of your application it probably wont do much. If he can say something about you personally, it would be much more worthwhile.

 

[SarsMO]

Is it worth obtaining a letter of recommendation from a faculty member simply because they are a world renowned person in the field? They really don't know me that well personally so I would be giving them my CV, personal statement, etc, and they'd probably just write a basic summary letter (student volunteered many hours in the hospital, this shows he is interested in medicine; student did excellent research in the lab, this shows he is intelligent, etc) with their name signed on the end.

What are your thoughts on this? This would be just one letter, the rest of the letters are from faculty that know the student well.

I was told by my pre-med committee and someone on an Adcom that it was a really bad idea. They said that they get a lot of really bland letters by people that students thought would be impressive by the mere fact that they had that signature. Letters that are personal and by an unknown person are much better than generic letters with a "famous" person's signature on the end. No one will be impressed that you had contact with this person; they would only be impressed if they actually knew you. Be careful! You want your letters to be as strong as they can for you...a well-known signature at the end doesn't say much about you...

 

[Lukkie]

thanks for the advice everyone. brings me to another question - do the interviewers ever talk about a LOR during interviews? they are making a movie about this guy and i think it would be a good topic of conversation.

 

[SarsMO]

They were never brought up in my interviews.

 

[Lukkie]

They were never brought up in my interviews.

good enough for me. thanks.