rec letter from thesis advisor

[bigbonustoday]

Rookie question on rec letter:

Many schools define a "science letter" as from a science faculty member that taught you a class and gave you a letter grade.

I can potentially get a great letter from my undergrad thesis adviser who is the chair of my major department (science major) but never taught me a class personally.

Would this count as a science letter?

EDIT: To be 100pct clear, the research work is listed on the official transcript as 2 classes titled "independent research" with 2 letter grades, as I worked in his lab for a full year. I'm just wondering if this would count as a "class".

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[aldol16]

Well, if a school has an explicit requirement for a "science letter from a science faculty member who has taught you in a class" and your thesis adviser never taught you in a class, I think the answer is self-evident. Get a science letter from a science faculty member who taught you in a class - your thesis adviser can be another letter.

 

[bigbonustoday]

Well, if a school has an explicit requirement for a "science letter from a science faculty member who has taught you in a class" and your thesis adviser never taught you in a class, I think the answer is self-evident. Get a science letter from a science faculty member who taught you in a class - your thesis adviser can be another letter.

To be 100pct clear, the research work is listed on the official transcript as 2 classes titled "independent research" with 2 letter grades, as I worked in his lab for a full year. I'm just wondering if this would count as a "class".

 

[aldol16]

To be 100pct clear, the research work is listed on the official transcript as 2 classes titled "independent research" with 2 letter grades, as I worked in his lab for a full year. I'm just wondering if this would count as a "class".

If it's listed as a class and your thesis adviser is the "instructor," then you can probably squeak by with it. Still advise you to get one from a science faculty who taught you in a classroom setting and then just use your thesis adviser's as another one.