How important are LOR's from a PI?

[radi0headfan]

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The way I think my LORs will end up right now is 2 science, 2 non-science, 1 from an employer, and one from either a PI/volunteer coordinator. 6 letters seems like a lot, but right now I'm at 7 and am torn when thinking about which one to get rid of. For a first tier school, I'm guessing they would like some affirmation from a PI if you have lab experience? Even more so than a letter from a volunteer coordinator at a local Veterans Affairs?

Here's where my rec letters are coming from:
2 science: One from a genetics professor and one from a junior college prof. for anatomy & physiology
2 non-science: Both from electrical engineering professors
1 from an employer where I worked after graduation

Is there anything from that list I should get rid of? Maybe one of the non-sciences should go? Right now I'm trying to decide whether I should get the 6th letter from a PI in a neuroscience lab (I haven't done any research of my own yet..mostly just helping the grad students out...the PI will give me an independent project either this semester or in the summer though) or a volunteer coordinator at the Veterans Affairs. I'm guessing 6 is the limit at most schools, but I'm guessing I may have to pare it down even more at other schools? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hassler]

The way I think my LORs will end up right now is 2 science, 2 non-science, 1 from an employer, and one from either a PI/volunteer coordinator. 6 letters seems like a lot, but right now I'm at 7 and am torn when thinking about which one to get rid of. For a first tier school, I'm guessing they would like some affirmation from a PI if you have lab experience? Even more so than a letter from a volunteer coordinator at a local Veterans Affairs?

Here's where my rec letters are coming from:
2 science: One from a genetics professor and one from a junior college prof. for anatomy & physiology
2 non-science: Both from electrical engineering professors
1 from an employer where I worked after graduation

Is there anything from that list I should get rid of? Maybe one of the non-sciences should go? Right now I'm trying to decide whether I should get the 6th letter from a PI in a neuroscience lab (I haven't done any research of my own yet..mostly just helping the grad students out...the PI will give me an independent project either this semester or in the summer though) or a volunteer coordinator at the Veterans Affairs. I'm guessing 6 is the limit at most schools, but I'm guessing I may have to pare it down even more at other schools? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure how your school does letters of recommendation, but in my school, we have a file that stores all our confidential rec. letters. It is therefore in our interest to collect more letters than less. That way, we can pick and choose the letters we want to send to each individual med school. For example, I had 7 letters in my file. I get to pick which letters to send for each individual school. That is nice because some schools are more specific about their letter requirements.

 

[thedelicatessen]

Who knows you better? If you volunteered A LOT and your volunteer coordinator knows you very well, I would pick him/her. However, if your PI knows you better, then I would go with him/her.

From my own experience, I was much closer with my PI than with the volunteer coordinator. Also, if you plan on research-oriented schools or a research career, I would definitely go with your PI.

 

[StritchMD2011]

I had a similar dilemma earlier this application cycle. I was a bit anxious about asking the PI of my lab for a letter because he's very critical of everyone in our lab, and I was worried he might write something bad. I eventually asked him because there was somewhat of a consensus that having done 2 summers of research and not getting a letter from the PI might look a bit suspicious to an admissions committee. He told me he'd write me a good letter, so everything worked out.

Don't think however that it's mandatory to get a letter from the PI of your lab. Depending on the depth and time of your research experience, it may look odd if you don't though. If there's a volunteer coordinator or someone else out there who knows you much better and can make your letter more personal, by all means - get a letter from them instead.

 

[EmbellisMaVie]

I did a year of research, and I got a letter from my PI, just in case. Honestly, with the exception of one school that required an LOR from any and all research advisors, I probably could have gone without it. I'm sure he wrote a nice letter, but I felt much more comfortable with my other letter writers.

For the non-academic letters, I had to send one from my pre-med advisor, and for the other, I chose to send a letter from a physician who I've worked with for the past five years. It's turned out to be a good decision. At my interviews, a couple of interviewers have commented on what a strong letter it was, and one of my acceptance letters specifically mentioned my work with that doctor as one of the reasons for my acceptance.

Of course, if you're looking into top-tier research schools and make a big deal out of how much your research means to you, and how much you'd like to do research in med school and beyond, then a letter from your PI is probably valuable. It really depends on which aspects of your applications you want to play up. For me, the research wasn't that important. For you, it may be, or you might find the volunteering to be a much bigger part of your life. It sounds like you really haven't gotten immersed in the neuro research yet, and that you've devoted a lot more time to the volunteering so far. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, and if that's the case, I'd go with the volunteer coordinator's letter.

 

[ltrain]

If you feel comfortable that your PI will write a good letter, definitely go with the PI. Like others have said, research schools will like to see this letter and may expect to see it depending on the length of your experience in the lab.

The other thing to keep in mind is that even if you feel like your PI doesn't know you as well, most PIs will know how to play the application game and will be able to write you a good letter if they think you are a good candidate. Also, what they have to say may be taken more seriously because they are an MD or PhD (unless your volunteer coordinator is also an MD, but I'm guessing not...I know mine isn't).

Could you get rid of one of the engineering letters? Will the 2 profs have something different to say about you?

 

[dopaminesurge]

VERY important. The dean at UCI literally told us during her introduction talk that a deal breaker is when someone's application mentions an important, long-term activity with no LOR to support it. Cut out one of the EE profs. I made sure to send at least 2/3 of my former PIs' letters to each school. 3 if possible.

 

[radi0headfan]

I'm not sure how your school does letters of recommendation, but in my school, we have a file that stores all our confidential rec. letters. It is therefore in our interest to collect more letters than less. That way, we can pick and choose the letters we want to send to each individual med school. For example, I had 7 letters in my file. I get to pick which letters to send for each individual school. That is nice because some schools are more specific about their letter requirements.

I wish we could do that. It would make things so much easier. Our health professions office will only take the letters in the order that they come in. The first 5 will be the ones they use. I was going to get my 6th one sent to the individual schools by my employer. I think they said if the school shows a need for a certain type of letter though, that they'd use it. So I may have to hassle them about that a bit.

 

[radi0headfan]

If you feel comfortable that your PI will write a good letter, definitely go with the PI. Like others have said, research schools will like to see this letter and may expect to see it depending on the length of your experience in the lab.

The other thing to keep in mind is that even if you feel like your PI doesn't know you as well, most PIs will know how to play the application game and will be able to write you a good letter if they think you are a good candidate. Also, what they have to say may be taken more seriously because they are an MD or PhD (unless your volunteer coordinator is also an MD, but I'm guessing not...I know mine isn't).

Could you get rid of one of the engineering letters? Will the 2 profs have something different to say about you?

Ya, right now I think I'm in the process of getting more comfortable with my PI since I may actually start a research project soon, which I think could be this semester if I want it to be. But I wanted to focus more on the MCAT now(I'm hoping to take it in April/May), and then worry about doing research afterwards. I'm working 20-25 hrs/wk also so that's why I thought I'd let it wait. Getting rid of one EE letter might be a good idea then.

About the MD/PhD evaluator being taken more seriously, is it really advisable to get rid of the letter I have from my comm. college teacher then? I was hoping med schools would look at what the evaluator has to say about me rather than worry about their qualifications.

 

[BNSN]

Ya, right now I think I'm in the process of getting more comfortable with my PI since I may actually start a research project soon, which I think could be this semester if I want it to be. But I wanted to focus more on the MCAT now(I'm hoping to take it in April/May), and then worry about doing research afterwards. I'm working 20-25 hrs/wk also so that's why I thought I'd let it wait. Getting rid of one EE letter might be a good idea then.

About the MD/PhD evaluator being taken more seriously, is it really advisable to get rid of the letter I have from my comm. college teacher then? I was hoping med schools would look at what the evaluator has to say about me rather than worry about their qualifications.

The more credentials the LOR author has, the more weight the letter has. Go with the MD/PhD.

 

[radi0headfan]

VERY important. The dean at UCI literally told us during her introduction talk that a deal breaker is when someone's application mentions an important, long-term activity with no LOR to support it. Cut out one of the EE profs. I made sure to send at least 2/3 of my former PIs' letters to each school. 3 if possible.

Ya, there's another vote for getting rid of the EE letter. Maybe that's the one that needs to go.

 

[radi0headfan]

The more credentials the LOR author has, the more weight the letter has. Go with the MD/PhD.

Really? I didn't think they'd look into the evaluator so much, but if they do, that kinda sucks 🙁 The thing is, all the science classes I have are AP credit or from a comm. college(post bacc), with the exception of Genetics and Biochemistry which I took recently. So I wanted to send in two science recommendations, one from my Genetics prof and the other from the junior college prof.