LOR question

[SpartanBlueJay2]

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I guess I'm kind of a non-trad. I've been out of undergrad for awhile, but I've been in a Ph.D. program at a medical school. My question is about getting an LOR from a humanities faculty. It's been several years since I've taken any sort of humanities class. Getting LORs from science faculty is no problem whatsoever, but is it absolutely necessary to get one from a humanities faculty? If so, can anyone else who has been in a similar situation suggest how to go about asking a prof who probably has zero recollection of you for a LOR? Also, for the purposes of a LOR, what courses would be considered humanities? I know psych and sociology are really social sciences, but would these fall in the humanities category for letters?

 

[SunshineNYC]

I had my psych professor write my non-science professor requirement. I don't know what schools require it to be specifically a "humanities" professor, but I do know that most schools ask for one science faculty (or two) and one non-science faculty. I did have some psych courses that were considered in the neuroscience department, and so I didn't ask any of them, but I asked a more social psychology type of professor to write it, and nobody has complained (and I applied EVERYWHERE!).

Good luck.

 

[menaniac]

I had the sasme problem, but I'd been out of school 15 years (yikes!). I called each school that had asked specifically for a humanities, and explained my situaton. All said, just give us what you have and don't worry about it, as long as there's (3 or 4 letters, depending on what they were asking for) and at least (2 or 3) of them are from science faculty. Some let me substitute letters from previous employers, etc. for the humanities. Definately call the school and ask the admissions office what you should do. Worked for me!🙂

 

[njbmd]

I guess I'm kind of a non-trad. I've been out of undergrad for awhile, but I've been in a Ph.D. program at a medical school. My question is about getting an LOR from a humanities faculty. It's been several years since I've taken any sort of humanities class. Getting LORs from science faculty is no problem whatsoever, but is it absolutely necessary to get one from a humanities faculty? If so, can anyone else who has been in a similar situation suggest how to go about asking a prof who probably has zero recollection of you for a LOR? Also, for the purposes of a LOR, what courses would be considered humanities? I know psych and sociology are really social sciences, but would these fall in the humanities category for letters?

Humanities: Psychology, Sociology, History,Political Science, English, Philosophy including Ethics, Art and Music. If you took Bioethics in your Ph.D coursework, then a letter from this professor would suffice as from a "Humanities" professor.

 

[AtreyuRocks]

I had the sasme problem, but I'd been out of school 15 years (yikes!). I called each school that had asked specifically for a humanities, and explained my situaton. All said, just give us what you have and don't worry about it, as long as there's (3 or 4 letters, depending on what they were asking for) and at least (2 or 3) of them are from science faculty. Some let me substitute letters from previous employers, etc. for the humanities. Definately call the school and ask the admissions office what you should do. Worked for me!🙂

I was out of school for a year at the time I started applying (and I just really had no desire to obtain a letter from a "non-science professor" because I didn't feel there was one that could write an appropriate letter based on a REAL relationship). I submitted three letters. Two from science professors and 1 personal from a physician. Despite the fact that I didn't meet some schools LOR "requirements" I still was allowed to turn in my secondary and even awarded an interview (at schools where I was a good fit score-wise etc). IMO if the school likes your app, they aren't going to turn you down cause you don't have a specific LOR. Maybe there are SOME schools that won't give you a break.. but (IMO), a weak letter will ruin your overall profile (if your scores are borderline like mine were) which is far worse than not being able to apply to a couple other schools that may not even accept you anyways.

EDIT: I should also add that I applied MD/PhD so maybe all they cared about was my research letter... but still a lot of schools required LOR from science professors AND an additional research letter. As a non-trad, my PI was not only my research letter, but full time employer as well as "science professor LOR"... I spoke to the schools individually or wrote a letter regarding this (if their LOR req's deemed necessary)... and it's definitely acceptable... they just want you to put in the extra effort to explain yourself.

 

[Ben26TPA]

Just a quick question, what exactly has to be on a LOR? I was speaking to my micro and anatomy professors today and told them that I was thinking about med school and they said they would be happy to write a LOR for me as long as they knew what it had to contain. Anyone out there with info? Thanks!