How bad will it be if I cannot get a LOR from my ph.d. advisor

[naixin]

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I just got my ph.d. and will be applying for Med school next year. However,
I feel my ph.d. advisor will not write me a letter for my med school application. He doesn't like me going to med school. How bad will it be to the application if I do not get a letter from him?

 

[LifeTake2]

I just got my ph.d. and will be applying for Med school next year. However,
I feel my ph.d. advisor will not write me a letter for my med school application. He doesn't like me going to med school. How bad will it be to the application if I do not get a letter from him?

What is your PhD in? If it is a science or bio-med field then it is going to be obvious. If it is in basket weaving it won't carry much weight regardless.

Why don't you think they will write you a solid letter? I don't know many professionals that would let their opinion of YOUR career choice impact their opinion of you professionally.

As for impact: who knows. Some reviewers might notice it missing and wonder why since it should be a easy LOR. Other's won't notice or care as long as your application is solid and you have good LOR's & EC's.

I would try to get the letter; BUT a bad letter can torpedo you so only use it if you are 100% sure it is good.

 

[gravitywave]

it's bad not to have a letter, no matter what your PhD is in. you spent several years of your life working on this, and you need a good reference out of it. it will be noticed if it's not there.

you need to stop avoiding this issue and find out what the advisor's deal is. alternatively, get a letter from someone else in the department (the chair, perhaps?) who can support you and help explain the situation.

 

[Cinclus]

I don't think my grad advisor was thrilled with the idea either, but he still wrote me a very good letter. Just ask him if he can honestly write you a very strong letter; if he says he will not or cannot, then you'll know. Profs won't lie about something like that, and then write something terrible; it's unprofessional.

 

[eHombre]

It's bad. Many schools specifically ask for your graduate research advisor's letter. Without it, adcoms will wonder why the person who was best positioned to evaluate your performance over the past 5 (?) years, no matter the field, was unable to support your candidacy.

I agree with the above poster in that you need to fix this, not avoid it. Talk it through with your advisor and find out his deal. At this point, since you already have your PhD, it can't hurt. If necessary, spin it like you want to stay in research, just clinical research.

I'm saying this as a PhD-to-MD applicant. I was fortunate that my advisor was very supportive and wrote a very strong LOR on my behalf. I'd try again to persuade your advisor to write you a supportive letter.. Maybe even allude to the endless possibilities for fruitful interdisciplinary collaborations the two of you could enjoy and how much you'll always remember fondly his wise mentoring of you. 😉

 

[GoZags]

I don't think my grad advisor was thrilled with the idea either, but he still wrote me a very good letter. Just ask him if he can honestly write you a very strong letter; if he says he will not or cannot, then you'll know. Profs won't lie about something like that, and then write something terrible; it's unprofessional.

Unfortunately I know of a couple of instances where profs agreed to write the letter and "torpedoed" their student.....unprofessional, but does happen 😱