How to ask PI for recommendation letter

[Skarl]

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I would like to ask my former PI for a medical school recommendation letter. Is it better to ask in person, randomly dropping by their office, or to send an email scheduling a meeting regarding a letter? For context: I used to work in this PI's lab but transitioned to another lab after my mentor graduated. The PI does not typically interact with undergrads as he is very busy and prominent in his field. He likely recognizes my face, having seen me present at an undergrad conference. The bulk of the letter would likely be written by my former mentor, who has already agreed to contribute to my letter.

 

[ThrowawayShmoaway]

Why did you already ask your mentor to write the letter when you don’t yet even know whether a PI who only “likely” recognizes your face and “typically doesn’t interact with undergrads” is going to 1) agree to letter and 2) agree to put his/her name on something s/he didn’t write? Or is this usually what the pre-meds in that lab do when getting a letter from him/her?

 

[faerie62]

Send an email to try and set up a meeting, if no reply within a week, resend the email. If still no reply in 2 weeks then try and drop by his office.

 

[getdown]

The answer to your question is DON'T ASK YOUR PI FOR A LETTER. He didn't interact with you and likely doesn't even remember who you are if he is that busy. I don't even think he'd even agree to write you a letter. And even if he did agree what would he even put in the letter? I barely know this applicant but he seems to be a nice guy? Seriously, come on. Have your mentor write the letter. The only reason you're asking your PI is you want to use his name recognition which is blatantly transparent.

 

[Master Thinker]

Have your mentor write your LOR and have the PI sign it. That was what I did and it worked for me.

 

[Skarl]

Hi all

Yes my mentor would would write the letter while the PI signs it; this is how the lab typically does LORs. It is a fairly common practice in large labs and not the question in discussion.

The question is how I should go about asking the PI now that I have already asked my mentor. If anyone has insight on this I would be grateful, thanks!

 

[Master Thinker]

Hi all

Yes my mentor would would write the letter while the PI signs it; this is how the lab typically does LORs. It is a fairly common practice in large labs and not the question in discussion.

The question is how I should go about asking the PI now that I have already asked my mentor. If anyone has insight on this I would be grateful, thanks!

"Hey, my mentor has written me a LOR, would you be able to cosign it." No need to overthink, they do it all the time.

 

[getdown]

If this is common practice doesn't it dilute the utility of the LOR? I mean, someone else writes the letter and you have someone more "renown" sign it just to ride the name. It's one thing if the PI actually knows you and able to write this himself. Why not just have your mentor sign it and send it in. While I understand that name recognition matters in residency application, I'm actually kind of curious if adcoms actually take this stuff into account for med school admission. @Goro can comment since he's both an adcom and runs his own lab.

 

[Goro]

If this is common practice doesn't it dilute the utility of the LOR? I mean, someone else writes the letter and you have someone more "renown" sign it just to ride the name. It's one thing if the PI actually knows you and able to write this himself. Why not just have your mentor sign it and send it in. While I understand that name recognition matters in residency application, I'm actually kind of curious if adcoms actually take this stuff into account for med school admission. @Goro can comment since he's both an adcom and runs his own lab.

At my DO school, we're not looking for grad students, we want people who will be good medical students and more importantly, good doctors.

My take from being on SDN some some seven years is that a PI LOR works best for MD/PhD

To the OP, LORs are just as much about judgement as they are about an assessment or evaluation of you as a candidate/ Getting a LOR from someone who barely knows you will net, at best, a lukewarm LOR, and this could very well leave Adcom members scratching thier heads at "why would this kid even bother asking this person for a letter?????"

 

[Skarl]

At my DO school, we're not looking for grad students, we want people who will be good medical students and more importantly, good doctors.

My take from being on SDN some some seven years is that a PI LOR works best for MD/PhD

To the OP, LORs are just as much about judgement as they are about an assessment or evaluation of you as a candidate/ Getting a LOR from someone who barely knows you will net, at best, a lukewarm LOR, and this could very well leave Adcom members scratching thier heads at "why would this kid even bother asking this person for a letter?????"

Absolutely, that's why my mentor will write the bulk of the letter. He has communicated to me this is what he has done for past students: he writes it, PI makes edits, signs and that is the final copy. @getdown I don't necessarily agree with the practice, but this is what I was advised to do because, as you stated, the name of my PI would be a greater benefit according to my mentor when I asked him first (he told me to ask the PI and that he would write the bulk of it thereafter).