Letter of recommendation Q: Two science professor

[distressstudent]

Hi people, I got a question about some LoR requirement for schools that require letters from two science professor. This might be a no-brainer, but do the science professors have to be your science lecture professors?

If so, then I am kind of in a pickle. I will be getting strong letters from a dentist, a chemistry professor, and an biology professor that I research for at another school. However, loma linda also requires one from a spiritual advisor; while western(california) requires two science professor letters which I don't have at the moment. But I believe AADSAS only holds up to four? Are there ways around this four letter restriction by using stuff like interfolio?

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[melatonin]

Even if you use the Interfolio, you may only load up to 4 letters on the AADSAS.
You might want to send your LOR from a spiritual leader directly to Loma Linda along with 4 letters uploaded on AADSAS. Some schools allow you to do that, while many do not.

Regarding the science professor requirement for your LOR, I think it has to be written by the professor who has taught you and given you a grade, whether it be a lecture-based or lab-based course. If you took his lab course and received a grade, I think you are good to go. On the other hand, if you did volunteer work in his lab or held a paid internship position, your LOR would not satisfy the requirement. Contact the schools of your choice for guidance on this issue.

 

[distressstudent]

Okay thanks.

And can someone review my list of requirements that needs to be met?
1. Requires letterhead
2. Requires signature
3. Ensure confidentiality ( if I use interfolio, how? Does he need to sign the envelope or something?)

Is there anything I am missing? My dentist who is going to write my letter don't usually write letters for people so I need tell him the convention otherwise he won't know. Thank you.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

Okay thanks.

And can someone review my list of requirements that needs to be met?
1. Requires letterhead
2. Requires signature
3. Ensure confidentiality ( if I use interfolio, how? Does he need to sign the envelope or something?)

Is there anything I am missing? My dentist who is going to write my letter don't usually write letters for people so I need tell him the convention otherwise he won't know. Thank you.

1) Yes

2) Yes

3) If you use interfolio there is a box you have to check stating that you have not seen your letter

I would also ask them to put the date of when they wrote it.

To answer your initial question, I sent in 2 letters from professors whom i've never had but have been involved in with research for quite a while. While schools will say, "Your letters must come from your lecture based teachers", I have still received several invites. It's better to have a good letter from someone who knows you well than someone who just knows you as a 'student in his/her class'.

 

[tendram]

I don't think schools are going to be terribly picky when it comes to whether you had the professor as a lecturer or not. Most of the time they aren't going to know whether the professor was you lecturer or not unless the professor makes it evident in the letter. Even then I think the schools are probably just looking for someone who can speak well about your academic performance, regardless of whether they actually taught you. I always say it's best to call the school about these issues because I'm sure they all have different policies on these sorts of things.

 

[Dentmedical]

Some schools specifically ask for faculty for which you have taken a course from. Just to play it safe, I used a bio professor with a very tough course and my ochem professor who I had for two semesters. Some schools even ask for letters from 3 faculty(hopefully in this case for me a graduate research mentor/faculty will count)!

I'm worried because my last letters of evaluation were submitted the first week of September, so my application wasn't complete until then! Now we play the waiting game.

 

[UltimateHombre]

I feel it is safe to say that you should focus on getting the best letters possible. I would rather have an awesome LOR from a science professor i did research for, than a mediocre LOR from a science professor i had in lecture.

As far as individual school LOR requirements go... I did a lot of research using the ADEA book before asking for them and it seemed that the best formula to fulfill most requirements was: 2 science profs, 1 non-science prof, and a dentist.

As for LLU, you can submit additional LORs when you fill out their secondary. I had my spiritual leader send it to them electronically that way.