Is it ok not to get a rec letter from research PI?

[Ohoh2912]

I have been doing research in the same lab for about 2 years now. However, I am not close to my PI at all. My works were not published. I am afraid to get a rec letter from PI because PI barely knows me well. Would it better not to get a get letter from PI and get a rec letter from a dentist who knows me pretty well? Would not getting a rec letter from PI after working in the lab for 2 years raise a red flag?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

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[wwdentist]

Go with the one who will write you a better letter. A great letter from a dentist will nearly always be better than an ‘okay’ letter from a PI. Unless you are crafting your application around your dedication to research, I see no problem with leaving out a letter from the PI.

 

[Firik]

I have been doing research in the same lab for about 2 years now. However, I am not close to my PI at all. My works were not published. I am afraid to get a rec letter from PI because PI barely knows me well. Would it better not to get a get letter from PI and get a rec letter from a dentist who knows me pretty well? Would not getting a rec letter from PI after working in the lab for 2 years raise a red flag?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Dentists usually say good things, which will level out with any other applicant. What you need to figure out is what does each school requires for a letter of rec. Most school will ask for two science professor and a dentist and some will ask, in addition, from an employer.
From my experience, if you ask your PI for a letter he/she will ask his/her grad students about you to write a letter.
Choose carefully and ask them by May with a deadline in early June.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

It is absolutely ok. Even if they offer I'd go with someone I thought would write a better letter. Heck I didn't have my boss write me a letter because I knew they wrote a bland impersonal letter for the other assistant at our practice.