Omitting LOR from old PI with whom I published

[and 99 others]

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How would it look if I were to not have a LOR from a PI whose lab I used to be in. I was there for several years and have a publication from the work there as well. However, I've seen the letter he has written for a grad student and it is just...bad. He likes me but I am positive his letter will be lukewarm at best. I am also getting a letter from my current PI who is sure to write me a much stronger letter as well as the department head, who I didn't work with but likes me and offered to write a letter as well. Would these 2 be sufficient in lieu of the old PI for the research perspective?

 

[Goro]

The value of PI LORs is greatly inflated by pre-meds.

 

[and 99 others]

The value of PI LORs is greatly inflated by pre-meds.

I only ask because many schools state that they want a letter from the PI if the applicant did research. I also plan to apply to a lot of research oriented schools

 

[and 99 others]

No letter is better than bad letter

I should clarify. When I say bad, I don't mean that he would write negative things about me. Just that it is so cookie cutter and generic. Which may be bad in and of itself I suppose

 

[Goro]

I should clarify. When I say bad, I don't mean that he would write negative things about me. Just that it is so cookie cutter and generic. Which may be bad in and of itself I suppose

This will not help, and may when compared to LORs other candidates have.

 

[cantankerous]

I should clarify. When I say bad, I don't mean that he would write negative things about me. Just that it is so cookie cutter and generic. Which may be bad in and of itself I suppose

Well if he has good feelings towards you, you could send a draft of a LOR that he could edit and sign. He could keep the parts he feels is accurate and remove everything else. I assume, unless he didn't really notice anything special that you did, the quality of LOR is due to laziness rather than how he feels about his students.

 

[freedoctor17]

Just use the current PI who is better at writing. I doubt anyone will notice or question it.