Letter of Recommendation Question

[Jack-Kennedy35]

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Hello All,

Firstly, I hope you and you family members are safe and well! I am applying this upcoming cycle, and a little bit of a background on myself- I spent 2 years at a junior college before transferring to a 4 year college. I currently have:

Non science
- 1 very strong Non Science LOR from my 4 year school. I took 3 classes with him and he told me that it would be stellar.

BCPM
- 1 science LOR from a community college Biology Professor who I knew extremely well.
- I am awaiting my second science letter of rec from my 4 year university professor, but thus far have not received it yet.

1. In regard to the letter of rec, is it recommended that i do all that I can to secure the second science letter from my 4 year university professor rather than get a second science letter from a community college professor? I know the community college ones will be very strong. In general do adcoms view letters from cc with less grit than a 4 year letter even if it speaks even more highly than the latter?

2. I took a class in the honors department called "The Anthropocene: An Archaeological Perspective," which had significant biology/evolution content and constituted a lot of scientific readings and manuscript analysis. It is in the honors department and not in the traditional anthropology, bio, chem departments. Anyways, the professor is a MD,PhD but is a professor at the institute of archaeology. I do plan to list this in AMCAS as BCPM. Can I make this count as a science letter, especially if I ask him to specify the biology content that was studied in our class and focus on that? I knew this man extremely well, on a personal level.

Thanks @gyngyn @Goro @LizzyM @Catalystik @gonnif
@Mr.Smile12
@Med Ed

 

[Goro]

2 is NOT a science course, but a humanites

 

[LizzyM]

I would think that a letter from an MD, PhD would be a science letter. YMMV

 

[Catalystik]

2. I took a class in the honors department called "The Anthropocene: An Archaeological Perspective," which had significant biology/evolution content and constituted a lot of scientific readings and manuscript analysis. It is in the honors department and not in the traditional anthropology, bio, chem departments. Anyways, the professor is a MD,PhD but is a professor at the institute of archaeology. I do plan to list this in AMCAS as BCPM. Can I make this count as a science letter, especially if I ask him to specify the biology content that was studied in our class and focus on that? I knew this man extremely well, on a personal level.

You can try, but I fear that a quick perusal of the professor's academic credentials and the title of the class you took will cause office staffers to mark the checklist next to "Non-Science Letter" no matter how you categorize it.

 

[Jack-Kennedy35]

2 is NOT a science course, but a humanites

Thanks Goro, What is your opinion regarding my first question?

 

[Jack-Kennedy35]

I would think that a letter from an MD, PhD would be a science letter. YMMV

Thanks LizzyM! What is you opinion regarding my first question?

 

[Jack-Kennedy35]

You can try, but I fear that a quick perusal of the professor's academic credentials and the title of the class you took will cause office staffers to mark the checklist next to "Non-Science Letter" no matter how you categorize it.

I understand, and I think I will lean on the side of caution and not choose to list it as a science LOR. What is you opinion regarding my first question? Thanks for your help.

 

[LizzyM]

My experience with CC letters is very thin. The one I recall was from someone who had not yet earned a doctorate (maybe ABD -- all but dissertation). That type of letter will not be as highly regarded as a letter from someone with decades of experience in the classroom. Frankly, I am getting tired of LORs... they really stack the deck against students who are trying to save money by attending CC for the first two years and those who attend huge state-funded schools. The student attending a liberal arts college with small classes is at a tremendous advantage as are those who attend power-house research universities with dedicated pre-med committees/advisors who do a tremendous committee letter.