Letter of Recommendation Issue

[mstpgrind]

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Hey, so I have a good relationship with 2 of my professors. However, some of the schools I am applying to require 3 letters of recommendation.
How bad would it to have a letter of recommendation that basically says:

Dear [admission office]

mstpgrind took [class] with me. He/She got an A

I know it won't boost my application, but I just need to get a letter to fulfill the school's requirements. My question is, will it hurt my application?

 

[chilly_md]

It reflects poorly if you choose somebody who you have not built a relationship with. It would be a good idea to meet with your letter writer and discuss your goals and CV so they can write a more substantial letter than 2-3 sentences.

 

[LizzyM]

Frankly, a letter that just parrots what you have on your CV and PS might be longer but no more informative than what @mstpgrind wrote in the first post. There are those huge state schools where this type of letter is typical and not surprising given course enrollment/class size. Having one of the three letters be "meh" won't help but it won't hurt. If you are mstp, you know that you must have a letter from each PI, too.

 

[chilly_md]

These are general guidelines from the AAMC you could also provide:

https://www.aamc.org/system/files?file=2019-09/lettersguidelinesbrochure.pdf

It may not make much of a difference though if you are at a large state school like LizzyM said and most of your professors are for big lecture hall courses.