Lackluster letter of recommendation from PI

[suomi24]

I'm in the process of getting my LOR's in for the upcoming cycle. Currently the breakdown is as follows:

History Professor
Biochem Professor
Research PI
State Coordinator for service project I've been involved with for 8 years
Doctor (MD) whom I've shadowed and worked with
Hospital administrator who I did a service project with

I feel that all of these letters will be strong, with the exception of my Research PI. I've been talking to him and he basically said he is happy to write a letter and it will be all positive, but because of the short amount of time I spent in the lab (one summer, ~350 hours) the letter won't be anything exceptional. Just positive.

My question is, would you include this LOR in your application?

I feel like I should because it is my only research experience and having one letter out of six that isn't strong but also isn't anything negative isn't going to be a problem. Additionally, some schools I believe require a letter from any research PI's you have worked with.

I appreciate any feedback! Thanks in advance!

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[stubblesmcgee]

6 is a lot of letters; you really don't need that many. Imo that means that either option wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[smukke]

History Professor
Biochem Professor
Research PI
State Coordinator for service project I've been involved with for 8 years
Doctor (MD) whom I've shadowed and worked with
Hospital administrator who I did a service project with

By all means have those last 2 in case you use them but I would concentrate on getting another science LOR from someone who has taught you in class. I had a couple of places that only let me substitute a PI letter for a non-science and still wanted 2 LOR from lecture based science classes. And keep the PI one to only send to places that require it. Keep in mind that less can be more, you don't want your strong LORs to get lost in the flood of clutter.