LOR "science faculty"

[cure0008]

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When schools ask for LORs from "science faculty" can it be LORs from PIs that you worked with in lab (they are faculty of the university and are involved in research- for me one is in cell bio and other is in genetics).

Also, could it be from a science professor that you didn't have a class with - there is this match program in my school that matches you with a science faculty and you keep in touch with them for a semester or a year (but I am keeping in touch with them for two years now).

I think the way they write "science faculty" makes the above conditions acceptable (I hope) since they could have just wrote "science professor". Is this right? (crossing fingers)

 

[flip26]

Really should be from profs whose class you took. I think that some (most?) med schools are explicit about this...but I can't really remember for sure.

Letters from PIs are fine, but they are supplemental to the above.

 

[obgyny]

When schools ask for LORs from "science faculty" can it be LORs from PIs that you worked with in lab (they are faculty of the university and are involved in research- for me one is in cell bio and other is in genetics).

Also, could it be from a science professor that you didn't have a class with - there is this match program in my school that matches you with a science faculty and you keep in touch with them for a semester or a year (but I am keeping in touch with them for two years now).

I think the way they write "science faculty" makes the above conditions acceptable (I hope) since they could have just wrote "science professor". Is this right? (crossing fingers)

I have the same situation as you. One of my sci faculty LORs will be from one of my PIs who I didn't take a class with, just research. However, I was enrolled as research units and was graded for it. So it technically can count that way 🙂. But I've also contacted a few med schools and they said as long as your PI is science faculty, it should be fine.

My other sci LOR will be from my other PI, but he also taught one of my classes. Honestly, I think my PIs can say a LOT more about me than the sci profs I've had, where I'm only 1 in 450 students. I never went to office hours, not because I'm not interested in the subject, but because the profs were always swarmed with other premeds asking things like, "will this be on the exam???"

 

[MiniMoo]

I have the same situation as you. One of my sci faculty LORs will be from one of my PIs who I didn't take a class with, just research. However, I was enrolled as research units and was graded for it. So it technically can count that way 🙂. But I've also contacted a few med schools and they said as long as your PI is science faculty, it should be fine.

My other sci LOR will be from my other PI, but he also taught one of my classes. Honestly, I think my PIs can say a LOT more about me than the sci profs I've had, where I'm only 1 in 450 students. I never went to office hours, not because I'm not interested in the subject, but because the profs were always swarmed with other premeds asking things like, "will this be on the exam???"

You should check with specific schools about whether or not PI letter = science. I was trying to do the same, but some schools (can't remember which ones off the top of my head) would not accept it. I ended up just finding another professor to write my science letter instead. The PI letter just ended up being "Other".

 

[UnfeatyOblation]

When schools ask for LORs from "science faculty" can it be LORs from PIs that you worked with in lab (they are faculty of the university and are involved in research- for me one is in cell bio and other is in genetics).

Also, could it be from a science professor that you didn't have a class with - there is this match program in my school that matches you with a science faculty and you keep in touch with them for a semester or a year (but I am keeping in touch with them for two years now).

I think the way they write "science faculty" makes the above conditions acceptable (I hope) since they could have just wrote "science professor". Is this right? (crossing fingers)

You should definitely get a LOR from a science faculty member whose class you have taken, even if a PI letter works instead. Sure, if you technically took research for credit then it works, but you want to show that out of a class of hundreds of students, you favorably stood out to the professor. Of course, if you have a PI LOR, get that in too.