LOR from Lab Professor

[CognitiveSci]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be applying this cycle and I was just wondering if it would be ok for me to ask my lab instructor to write a LOR for me? She has a PhD and actually works at one of the schools I'm applying to. I get on with her really well and am doing really well in the lab. I recognize that a LOR from a lab instructor may not be the strongest (I've only taken one class with her; only see her 3 hours/wk), but I've already got 2 other strong letters,but would really like to have a third for extra support.

What do you guys think?

- Thanks

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[starspells]

I would have the professor cosign it as well.

 

[CognitiveSci]

I would have the professor cosign it as well.

She IS the professor. She doesn't work under another professor because she already has a PhD. The lab does not have a coordinator, she handles the entire lab on her own. I go to a really small school that can't afford to do all that, lol

 

[CognitiveSci]

.

 

[Azete]

One of my LORs was from a lab TA that didn't even have a PhD at the time and the letter wasn't co-signed. Maybe some schools cared? In the end I still received plenty of interviews, and never got questioned about it.

 

[typhoonegator]

Is this for a lab science course, or are you in a liberal arts college? What is her academic rank and is she on a tenure track, or is she adjunct? These things would matter to some. However, if you think she really has a good handle on who you are as a person and how you manage yourself in a wet lab environment, then it could be useful to have her insight for your application. I wouldn't see it as a weakness as long as the content is useful and you have other letters from people who have more experience with students of your level of training.

You throw the term "professor" around, but that is a term of academic rank, not role in a class. Having a PhD doesn't make you a Professor, or even an Assistant Professor. It could make you a post-doc.

 

[CognitiveSci]

Is this for a lab science course, or are you in a liberal arts college? What is her academic rank and is she on a tenure track, or is she adjunct? These things would matter to some. However, if you think she really has a good handle on who you are as a person and how you manage yourself in a wet lab environment, then it could be useful to have her insight for your application. I wouldn't see it as a weakness as long as the content is useful and you have other letters from people who have more experience with students of your level of training.

You throw the term "professor" around, but that is a term of academic rank, not role in a class. Having a PhD doesn't make you a Professor, or even an Assistant Professor. It could make you a post-doc.

She taught my immunology lab, which is classified as a biology course at my university. She is an adjunct professor completing her post-doc studies.

I've gone ahead and asked her to write a LOR for me, to which she readily agreed. I really wanted a LOR from her because she is a researcher at one of the schools I'm applying to.