LOR Question

[musings]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey Guys~

I asked a humanities prof. about a LOR because I do love my humanities classes (I take one every semester)

I thought this class was intimate as it was a five person seminar class and I received an A.

When I asked her for a letter, she told me she would be glad to write me one. However, it will not be a strong letter since I've only taken one class with her. *She said her usual recs go to people who have taken more classes or are students in her major*

I do want her unique point of view on my abilities as a writer because I did well in her class. I also enjoyed the subject matter. While I understand that she may be hesitant about writing, I did ask for a meeting.

Does anyone see any harm in having this letter of recommendation? While I do understand that she may not know as much about me as her other students, she said that she would do the best she could knowing my performance from one class.

I have three strong LORs from science profs (PI,physics,bio) and I don't think I have anyone else in the humanities to ask.

Thanks!~

PS: More bluntly, does her hesitance mean that she has some reservations about my qualities as a med school candidate or is she just telling me honestly that she would have liked to get to know me better? If its the latter, I want to go ahead with the letter because I feel she would still give information about another side of me. Basically, I just don't want this to be a BAD letter that says, this person will never succeed in med school....

 

[shemarty]

I think she will write a good but not amazingly-fantastically-great letter. If you have nobody else in the humanities to ask, use this one. It will be fine - it won't stand out for being good or bad, and it'll meet the requirement of having a non science letter (some schools).

She's being honest with you when she says that she usually writes these for students who she knows better. She's not saying that she has any reservations about you as a physician.

That's my interpretation, anyone else have any input?

 

[flip26]

Be sure to provide her with a detailed resume of everything you have done to prep for med school - your activities, your grades, MCAT scores, accomplishments in science, etc.

If you have it, a copy of your PS detailing your motivation to become a physician will be helpful to her, too.

I agree with Shemarty - you need a humanities letter, so if this is your best shot, try to make it easy for the prof to "get to know you better" with the resume and PS...

 

[shemarty]

Be sure to provide her with a detailed resume of everything you have done to prep for med school - your activities, your grades, MCAT scores, accomplishments in science, etc.

If you have it, a copy of your PS detailing your motivation to become a physician will be helpful to her, too.

I agree with Shemarty - you need a humanities letter, so if this is your best shot, try to make it easy for the prof to "get to know you better" with the resume and PS...

I would recommend giving a resume and PS to every LOR-writer (I say this on my MDApps page). It can only help to give them more information!

Good luck!

 

[flip26]

I would recommend giving a resume and PS to every LOR-writer (I say this on my MDApps page). It can only help to give them more information!

Good luck!

I did the same - I covered up my letter writers with this stuff, and made myself available for meetings, interviews, or whatever the prof deemed necessary to write the letter...

 

[musings]

Great!~ Thanks guys. I have just been worried because I looked through some posts and people said your letters must be strong and she used the same word to indicate that hers would not be.

I will be providing her with a transcript, personal statement and resume. I hope our meeting will also give her some more material.

However, I no longer have reservations about asking for one from her. At least in the terms that she's not about to sabotage my future XDXD

Thanks guys!