Letters of reference

[JDbb]

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I don't really have many options for my second reference letter, but which person do you think I should go to?

High school teacher, principal, or a university teaching assistant?

I haven't really had the time to become accustomed to any professors or pharmacists, so yeah 🙁

 

[nicolemsm]

I don't really have many options for my second reference letter, but which person do you think I should go to?

High school teacher, principal, or a university teaching assistant?

I haven't really had the time to become accustomed to any professors or pharmacists, so yeah 🙁

Go on PharmCAS and it will tell you which people your school allows LOR to come from. I doubt a high school teacher or principal would have any weight in a letter. They want college professors (specifically science), maybe heads of science department, Pharmacists, Volunteer coordinators, etc. Hope that helps & best of luck with your letters 🙂

 

[pharm B]

I don't really have many options for my second reference letter, but which person do you think I should go to?

High school teacher, principal, or a university teaching assistant?

I haven't really had the time to become accustomed to any professors or pharmacists, so yeah 🙁

So are you applying to medical schools and pharmacy schools at the same time? Seems like you have a few hoops to jump through, as each school has its own set of LOR requirements.

Don't be afraid to approach your college professors. As discussed previously in the pre-pharmacy forum, they're used to it. If you ask nicely, and you weren't a complete waste of a student, they'll probably be more than happy to write that LOR for you.

 

[JDbb]

So are you applying to medical schools and pharmacy schools at the same time? Seems like you have a few hoops to jump through, as each school has its own set of LOR requirements.

Don't be afraid to approach your college professors. As discussed previously in the pre-pharmacy forum, they're used to it. If you ask nicely, and you weren't a complete waste of a student, they'll probably be more than happy to write that LOR for you.

But I don't think my professor knows me that well.. I've only gone up to her like 1 or 2 times..

Any thoughts about the teaching assistant?

And I can't use PharmCAS because I'm applying to UBC. It doesn't seem like they have any specific requirements for LORs though.

 

[aboveliquidice]

But I don't think my professor knows me that well.. I've only gone up to her like 1 or 2 times..

Any thoughts about the teaching assistant?

And I can't use PharmCAS because I'm applying to UBC. It doesn't seem like they have any specific requirements for LORs though.

A strong LOR is easy to differentiate from a weak one. If your with a professor amounted to one or two interactions, I wouldn't seek an LOR from him/her. It isn't too late to forge a relationship - but you really need to put out effort. You could offer to volunteer in class or in a lab, have a sit down in the professors office, suggest a research project that you would like to head up (I've read LORs with all of these tactics...).

Treat your LORs like any other component of your application - put some effort into it.

 

[koercive]

I don't really have many options for my second reference letter, but which person do you think I should go to?

High school teacher, principal, or a university teaching assistant?

I haven't really had the time to become accustomed to any professors or pharmacists, so yeah 🙁

take a look at this table to see which letters are even accepted at different schools:
http://www.pharmcas.org/docs/ReqTypebySchool0910.pdf

are you applying this year? if you have time, I would find a volunteer position or a pharmacist you can at least shadow to get more experience/another LOR from.

 

[rivulet]

I am also wondering if it will hurt my chances of acceptance.
I have 2 recs from science professors and one from my biology
advisor.
However, I do not have one from a pharmacist. I had asked my pharmacist to and he told me that he definitely will. But of course he still has not completed it. I called him last week and before that I came in to remind him.

Do you gies think he is trying to avoid filling out the rec or should I remind him again???

Do you gies think it is detrimental not to have a pharmacy recommendation?

Has anyone been accepted to pharmacy school without a pharmacist recommendation?

 

[aboveliquidice]

I am also wondering if it will hurt my chances of acceptance.
I have 2 recs from science professors and one from my biology
advisor.
However, I do not have one from a pharmacist. I had asked my pharmacist to and he told me that he definitely will. But of course he still has not completed it. I called him last week and before that I came in to remind him.

Do you gies think he is trying to avoid filling out the rec or should I remind him again???

Do you gies think it is detrimental not to have a pharmacy recommendation?

Has anyone been accepted to pharmacy school without a pharmacist recommendation?

Some schools require it... Check the pharmcas school directory or contact the schools in question individually.

 

[Namishin]

If your professor seems like an approachable person, you should speak to him/her in a sincere manner. As long as you did well in their class (grade of A) they shouldn't have a problem spouting out a generic LOR for you. Your professors are asked to write these things a lot more often than you think. The LOR may not make you stand out as an applicant but if it fulfills a requirement for a school you're applying to, there's nothing to lose.

 

[JDbb]

Well I'm applying UBC, and like I said before, there are no requirements for LORs that I know of. The reason why I don't want to ask my professor is that I don't feel that she would know my work habits/leadership skills enough to write what is required on the LOR template. So my question is.. what's better: an LOR in which someone of "higher" status but doesn't really know too much about your habits/personality, or someone of "lower" status but can write a better or stronger LOR for you?

I don't really have time to do anything of the aforementioned because my decision to go into pharmacy was really recent (made the decision about 2 weeks ago), but don't ask me why. I have one LOR from a recreational manager at the retirement home that I volunteer at and another one that would possibly be from a TA. I would approach one of my professors, but like I said, she has never seen me work in a group or as an individual, and several of the questions on the LOR template are related to this, so I doubt she'd have an easy time writing one for me without having to lie or something. And it seems to be too late for me to do any volunteer work for her because the application is due Feb 28th, and I have midterms to study for until then. I just wanted some reassurance about whether or not I should ask my TA or just try to convince my professor as best as I can?

 

[Namishin]

Some adcoms view TAs as just another student. That being said, a glowing review from someone of lower status is better than a lackluster LOR from a ranked professor/pharmacist.

 

[Monalyce]

Some adcoms view TAs as just another student. That being said, a glowing review from someone of lower status is better than a lackluster LOR from a ranked professor/pharmacist.

Just to play devil's advocate here, some schools don't weigh LORs that heavily...among top applicants, they are likely to be very similar.

I used a TA letter co-signed by the prof, given that the TA was basically the instructor for 2 years of microbiology lab. I do not think this letter was treated any differently from a prof LOR.

Bottom line to OP: Sorry to be blunt, but having trouble coming up with LORs may be indicative of lack of experience (that is, volunteer, leadership, healthcare, etc). I wish you the best of luck, and strongly advise that you get more involved over a longer time period (a year or longer!) to score some top notch LORs.

 

[kmoogs]

If you still have time... and it seems like you do not... try seeking out a long term commitment to gain not only experience but also a source for your letter of recommendation.

As a former organic chemistry lab TA/instructor, I've written letters of recommendation for students throughout my two years of instruction. I have also written letters co-signed by my PI for a student I mentored in the research lab. My personal recommendation is to at least try to exhaust all other sources before resorting to a TA recommendation. An exception is if you worked extensively with a graduate student in a research project. Otherwise, besides a slight difference in responsibilities, in reality your TA is not that far removed from an undergraduate student in age and life experiences.

That being said, if you have no other option (and assuming you are 3 or 4 years removed from high school), the TA may be the best choice out of the three listed in the opening post ... albeit a weak choice.