Letter of Recommendation from PhD Student?

[revenge101]

Hello,

I am currently taking a Spanish class that is taught by a PhD student who is about to get her degree within the next year. Is it fine to ask an LOR from her, or should I ask whether she can write the LOR and have the lead professor of the Spanish Department cosign it? Thanks!

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[DrHart]

I'd ask for a cosign. Graduate students are faculty right? Obviously it varies from school to school but my impression was that most of your letters should be from faculty.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Does she have the title "professor"? They want professors.

 

[revenge101]

She is about to have her PhD soon, perhaps within a year, which is exactly the time I would apply for med school. It's just that I have been getting A's on all of her exams and have been doing all of my HW that I don't want to see this opportunity of obtaining an LOR go to waste. All of the Spanish courses in my university are taught by graduate students (they leave the professors to teach the graduate courses), so there's no way I would be able to get into a course taught by a Spanish professor. Would I be looked down upon for having the letter cosigned by the head of the Spanish Department?

 

[Doug Underhill]

If you're a competitive med school applicant, shouldn't you have a bunch of courses you got As in? Why just Spanish?

 

[mimelim]

She is about to have her PhD soon, perhaps within a year, which is exactly the time I would apply for med school. It's just that I have been getting A's on all of her exams and have been doing all of my HW that I don't want to see this opportunity of obtaining an LOR go to waste. All of the Spanish courses in my university are taught by graduate students (they leave the professors to teach the graduate courses), so there's no way I would be able to get into a course taught by a Spanish professor. Would I be looked down upon for having the letter cosigned by the head of the Spanish Department?

#1 Why do you want a LOR from someone who can only say, "This person got an A in my class and does their homework."?
#2 Having a PhD is not the same as being a professor.
#3 Graduate students are not faculty.
#4 This letter will not hurt you, but it will not help you in any way shape or form with medical school admissions. It is simply a standard 'fluff' LOR which at most schools will come across as simply filler and at a minority of places may evoke the question of, "He really couldn't get anyone better to write on his behalf?"
#5 Good grades are not a reason to get a LOR from someone: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/letters-of-recommendation.985472/

 

[Goro]

Concur 100% with my learned colleague. I ignore LORs from TAs.

#1 Why do you want a LOR from someone who can only say, "This person got an A in my class and does their homework."?
#2 Having a PhD is not the same as being a professor.
#3 Graduate students are not faculty.
#4 This letter will not hurt you, but it will not help you in any way shape or form with medical school admissions. It is simply a standard 'fluff' LOR which at most schools will come across as simply filler and at a minority of places may evoke the question of, "He really couldn't get anyone better to write on his behalf?"
#5 Good grades are not a reason to get a LOR from someone: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/letters-of-recommendation.985472/

 

[Heroberk]

Concur 100% with my learned colleague. I ignore LORs from TAs.

Is this how you look at all LOR's written by TAs, co-signed by professors?

Especially given some schools have extremely large classes with very little faculty vs. student interaction?

 

[revenge101]

#1 Why do you want a LOR from someone who can only say, "This person got an A in my class and does their homework."?
#2 Having a PhD is not the same as being a professor.
#3 Graduate students are not faculty.
#4 This letter will not hurt you, but it will not help you in any way shape or form with medical school admissions. It is simply a standard 'fluff' LOR which at most schools will come across as simply filler and at a minority of places may evoke the question of, "He really couldn't get anyone better to write on his behalf?"
#5 Good grades are not a reason to get a LOR from someone: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/letters-of-recommendation.985472/

Even though my Spanish class is taught by a GTA, we only have 16 students in the class, which promotes a lot of student-instructor interaction. Also, I often email and ask her questions her and go to her office hours. She realized that my Spanish skills are very strong for someone who is non-Hispanic, and I often participate during class discussions while earning high grades on her exams. Would the fact that she is a PhD student still hurt me when I ask an LOR from her?

 

[Goro]

As Mimelim says, LORs that say "Joe/Jill was smart and received an A" doesn't tell us very much.

A note co-signed by the Prof just tells me the Prof was too lazy to teach the class and probably doesn't even know the student.

Is this how you look at all LOR's written by TAs, co-signed by professors?

Especially given some schools have extremely large classes with very little faculty vs. student interaction?

 

[mimelim]

Even though my Spanish class is taught by a GTA, we only have 16 students in the class, which promotes a lot of student-instructor interaction. Also, I often email and ask her questions her and go to her office hours. She realized that my Spanish skills are very strong for someone who is non-Hispanic, and I often participate during class discussions while earning high grades on her exams. Would the fact that she is a PhD student still hurt me when I ask an LOR from her?

I don't exactly know what you are missing. Most language classes are going to be small. Student/letter writer interaction is expected. We get it, you are a good student in her class. That will be reflected in your 'A' on your transcript. I don't need someone to write me a letter telling me how you earned an 'A' in their class. She is a PhD student. The sum total of students that she has taught is extremely limited. Her exposure to your qualities are limited to how you performed in her class. This is the definition of a weak letter. Again, I would read this before going further: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/letters-of-recommendation.985472/

 

[radioactive15]

What about a few letters from PhD's and/or TA's PLUS a committee letter?

 

[mimelim]

What about a few letters from PhD's and/or TA's PLUS a committee letter?

I don't really understand the question. What about it? You get to submit a limited number of letters from people that can advocate for you. Why waste spots with weak letters that at best are going to not hurt you? There is no upside.

 

[PhysicianScientist]

Not to hijack this thread, but how about a letter from a post-doc? I have a strong one from the PI as well but this post doc wrote an exceptional letter before for a fellowship

 

[Goro]

Re-read Mimelim's posts. His thoughts still apply here.

Not to hijack this thread, but how about a letter from a post-doc? I have a strong one from the PI as well but this post doc wrote an exceptional letter before for a fellowship

 

[Doug Underhill]

It sounds like the topic creator wants a letter proving they can speak Spanish. If the med school is interested in whether the applicant can speak Spanish, they'll talk to them in Spanish. You don't need a LOR for that.

It is a very useful EC, however. I'm working on it myself.

 

[Heroberk]

As Mimelim says, LORs that say "Joe/Jill was smart and received an A" doesn't tell us very much.

A note co-signed by the Prof just tells me the Prof was too lazy to teach the class and probably doesn't even know the student.

But what if the letter is pretty good and goes into further detail by the T.A? And again is co-signed by professor?

At my school, especially the lower division pre-reqs, that is just how the majority of professors treat class. It is just part of their duty to continue their interest in research.

 

[Goro]

Yeah, I know, at many schools, teaching is something that gets in the way of their research. I wish schools would just move to a two-tier system with teaching faculty and research faculty.

I'm afraid that we still wont' take non-faculty LORs very seriously. I don't think it will hurt as much as it won't help all that much.

But what if the letter is pretty good and goes into further detail by the T.A? And again is co-signed by professor?

At my school, especially the lower division pre-reqs, that is just how the majority of professors treat class. It is just part of their duty to continue their interest in research.

 

[Heroberk]

Yeah, I know, at many schools, teaching is something that gets in the way of their research. I wish schools would just move to a two-tier system with teaching faculty and research faculty.

I'm afraid that we still wont' take non-faculty LORs very seriously. I don't think it will hurt as much as it won't help all that much.

I understand. Definitely something I should have considered before choosing my undergraduate school. By the way, I am not sure if this is hijacking, but I do have another related LOR question I posted in somewhere else. The question is as follows:

I am not sure how to deal with the two "science" LOR that a majority of schools are looking for. I did not graduate with a traditional science degree. And during my early years with medical pre-reqs, I wasn't focused and just thought that doing well would suffice.

I only have one science letter at the moment from a biochem class I took my junior year. But I am stuck as to what to do. On one hand, I can contact a previous faculty who probably wouldn't remember me, and at best receive an okay letter. Or I apply to schools that do not have this requirement, which makes my choices extremely narrow. My other alternative is to somehow convince admissions that my epidemiology course can suffice as a replacement, but even this is a 50/50 shot.

Any suggestions? It just seems like my aspirations in medicine are being killed because I was timid and needed time to acclimate to the massive university I attended.

 

[Goro]

Some people suggest taking a new science course and making friends with that Professor.

I understand. Definitely something I should have considered before choosing my undergraduate school. By the way, I am not sure if this is hijacking, but I do have another related LOR question I posted in somewhere else. The question is as follows: