LOR from a Grad TA?

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Tegan05

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Is an academic letter of recommendation from a graduate TA acceptable? Is it preferred to have one from a PhD professor?

I only ask because I'm getting to know my lab TA, and think she could write a better letter than the professors I hardly know. But of course, there is still time to get to know some some professors with more letters behind their names.
 
I think that any LOR that comes from someone that knows you in a more personal capacity is a strong LOR - you can always continue to make personal connections with your professors themselves. But a graduate TA is still a strong position and one that would be able to speak to your academic capacities.
 
I don't think it would be accepted in place of a LOR from a professor. That's not to say this person can't write you a letter. But I don't think it would "count" as a LOR from a professor.

One thing you could do is have them both write / sign the letter, giving you the benefit of having an actual professor and someone that knows you well.

Of course, when in doubt, call the schools you are applying to.
 
It's not really the greatest idea, honestly. As a former graduate TA, I would not have felt comfortable writing a letter for a student to get into a graduate or professional program. I would have felt comfortable doing as bunnity suggests and collaborating with the course instructor of record on the letter to provide input on a letter for the prof to sign and endorse if I knew a student's academic attributes better than the instructor did.
 
Chiming in with Nyanko here...I had one written, not by a TA but a grad student I worked under, whose advisor was one of the professors of a big lecture class I took. He wrote about my professional/personality/achievyness and had the professor add in stuff about academic abilities, then the professor signed it.

Just from a grad student, though, probably not a good idea.
 
As an undergrad TA I wrote someone a very brief recommendation for a scholarship or internship...something of that sort. And she had specifically asked the program if that was allowed. I thought it was weird that they allowed that.

When people needed real recommendation letters and wanted his/her TA to contribute the lab coordinator would write it based on their grades and ask the student's TA what type of person they were so he could add a few personalized words.
 
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