Professor References

[kamio]

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Some schools seem very specific about their recommendation letters. For example, Harvard requires letters "from professors in the sciences with whom you have taken classes." The problem is, my best references are from my research supervisors, and I have not taken classes with them. I could go to one of my past teachers, but s/he won't really be able to evaluate me beyond grades. Anyone know if schools make a big fuss over this "past teacher" requirement? Thanks.

 

[OddNath]

If possible, try to send in one letter from a professor you had a class with in addition to your research letters. I don't know how big of a deal it is, but it's fine to send in more than 3 letters for MSTP, so you might as well throw in another one if some schools *might* be picky about it.

 

[Mitro]

Honestly, you should try. However, I definitely interviewed at places where I didn't meet all their requirements for letters/classes/etc. As long as you're a good candidate, it wont matter.

 

[snobored18]

On the the reference theme, does anyone else think University of Chicago's suggested 6 referees is a little ridiculous??? You can't repeat a reference from the med school section on the MSTP section...grrrrrrr

 

[stherling]

Honestly, you should try. However, I definitely interviewed at places where I didn't meet all their requirements for letters/classes/etc. As long as you're a good candidate, it wont matter.

hey mitro, can you be a little more explicit about which classes you were short of? I'm technically short a few classes at a coupla places (most notably English classes, I've taken none) and would like to know how big a deal that is. I feel like i've definitely satisfied the spirit of the law (i took a lot of classes that required extensive reading, analyzing and writing) if not the letter of it, but med schools are known to be finicky, so.....

 

[gaganheim]

hey mitro, can you be a little more explicit about which classes you were short of? I'm technically short a few classes at a coupla places (most notably English classes, I've taken none) and would like to know how big a deal that is. I feel like i've definitely satisfied the spirit of the law (i took a lot of classes that required extensive reading, analyzing and writing) if not the letter of it, but med schools are known to be finicky, so.....

Don't worry, I never took an English class either, and I have five interviews so far. For MD/PhD, don't be afraid to email admissions secretaries, and some will be jerks about it, and others won't. Most told me that as long as I have taken courses that involved composition, it doesn't really matter if it was English versus the History and Philosophy classes I actually took. One current student I met at Pitt said he never took organic. Don't sweat it.

 

[stherling]

Thanks! I feel much better now 🙂 While we're on the topic... I would so love for someone to interview me, accept me, and tell me I can drop the orgo lab class i'm taking for 5 hours every thursday night.

Sorry to the OP btw for briefly hijacking the thread.

 

[kamio]

Thanks for your help, everyone.

Haha, stherling no probs. I also have the same problem of meeting prereqs especially because I am an engineering student. I basically have to be on overload in order to satisfy all the course requirements. Even then, with every school having different prerequisites, I can't be sure that I meet all the requirements at all the schools.

snobored18, originally I also thought I can't possibly find 6 references, but after a lot of searching in my memory and asking nicely, I did fortunately manage to find 6 people who are willing to support my application. I had to write a few of those myself, and some of my letters are probably mediocre. I think as long as you have a decent number of strong ones (say 3-4), the mediocre ones will neither hurt you nor help you. Essentially, what I am trying to say is think back hard. You may be pleasantly surprised how supportive one of your old teachers might be. I thought my English professor would only give me a weak reference, but she ended up being one of the most supportive of my application.