Getting LoRs from professors

[Knickerbocker]

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I go to a small school where it is easy to become acquainted with my professors. I recently mentioned letters of recommendation to one, and she said that she'd have mostly positive things to say, but there a few things she'd have to mention to be honest in the letter.

For those that I've had the most contact with (those of my major), I know that they'd have mostly good things to say, but, they know of the bad bits. I'm not expecting anything horrible, but I don't want a well-intentioned letter to give the wrong impression.

I had that happen to me once for a job interview - the interviewers told me some things that one of my references said, and they took them in kind of a strong way (lack of leadership skills). The person who was the reference didn't think it was bad and was certain that I was going to get the job because of the great things he said about me. Well, I didn't get the job, and it was at least partly because of things he had said.

To my point: I have a minor in another area of study, and there is a professor with whom I have had three classes. I did extremely well in all of them, and I'm certain that he only has a very good impression of me. I'd say that we're reasonably acquainted, but not to the point where he knows all of my flaws.

Would it look bad if I had letters of recommendation from someone who teaches a subject outside of my major (and none from my major)?

 

[Farmercyst]

I go to a small school where it is easy to become acquainted with my professors. I recently mentioned letters of recommendation to one, and she said that she'd have mostly positive things to say, but there a few things she'd have to mention to be honest in the letter.

For those that I've had the most contact with (those of my major), I know that they'd have mostly good things to say, but, they know of the bad bits. I'm not expecting anything horrible, but I don't want a well-intentioned letter to give the wrong impression.

I had that happen to me once for a job interview - the interviewers told me some things that one of my references said, and they took them in kind of a strong way (lack of leadership skills). The person who was the reference didn't think it was bad and was certain that I was going to get the job because of the great things he said about me. Well, I didn't get the job, and it was at least partly because of things he had said.

To my point: I have a minor in another area of study, and there is a professor with whom I have had three classes. I did extremely well in all of them, and I'm certain that he only has a very good impression of me. I'd say that we're reasonably acquainted, but not to the point where he knows all of my flaws.

Would it look bad if I had letters of recommendation from someone who teaches a subject outside of my major (and none from my major)?

I would say it depends on the class. You definitely want them to provide a good impression of you as a person, as a student, and if possible as a future pharmacist. Usually this is best done by someone who has an idea what the field is like, what it requires both in terms of scholastics as well as personality. If you have a professor from a class outside your major write a LOR, I'd suggest that they have taught a relatively difficult class (Linear Algebra vs Volleyball coach) or something that is pharmacy related, even if it's not degree oriented. As an example. I got LORs from my CC instructors for Pharmacy Calcs and Pharmacology. Neither applied to my major, but both very applicable to pharmacy.

 

[brbi]

I'm not really sure how they view letters of recommendation from a professor outside of your major, but then again I'd also say that it depends on your major. If it's a life science major or something similar, then I would definitely go for it. As long as the course pertains to pharmacy in any way, even an indirect way, then there should be no problems. If it's a course such as statistics or english, I'm not sure it helps your case much, but it certainly doesn't hurt your application.

Personally, I wanted someone who was simply acquainted with me and knew my tendencies (as far as study habits, communication skills, etc). I didn't want to get someone who knew me so well that they felt like they had to "help" me get into school. I wanted an honest opinion, but I also didn't want a letter of recommendation that was completely going to destroy my chances of being accepted. I think there is a fine line that you have to draw there, and it will be different for everyone.

 

[Hels2007]

I would say it would be fine, though someone might question why there are no letters from professors in your major and think there must be something fishy. When applying for pharmacy school, I asked two professors (Zoology and General Chem) and my boss from the Walgreen's where I worked for several months at the time of applying (whom we considered our lucky talisman, because everyone for whom he wrote a letter of recommendation, and he got at least two-three requests a year for many, many years, got in). 🙂

Is there one person within your major who could write you a shining LOR? Then you could have the other two from other professors and not worry. Some schools require that the professors who write letters of recommendation be science professors (my school did).

 

[Knickerbocker]

Is there one person within your major who could write you a shining LOR?

Probably. I guess that I'll need to talk to them. I'm just really worried about being screwed by a well meaning letter writer.

 

[Hels2007]

Probably. I guess that I'll need to talk to them. I'm just really worried about being screwed by a well meaning letter writer.

Once burned, twice shy? Don't be, most people try to write really good LORs. Though I remember my uncle telling me a story, how a student asked him for a LOR for the first time. He decided to take the draft to his department chair and ask for advice, since he has never written one before and wasn't sure how it was done. The department chair asked if my uncle really disliked the student. No, my uncle replied, that's one of the best students he ever had. And the boss told him to rewrite it using more words like "exceptional" and "outstanding" instead of "good" and "reliable". Choose someone with a good track record - surely students at your school talk about who writes good LORs?

I picked mine based on how well I thought they would write about me, how much they knew about me, and whether there was a connection between them and the place I applied to (such as they graduated from there, used to teach there, their best friend works there). 🙂