Rec letter question

[reticence]

Hello everyone.

I had a question about grades and rec letters. I had intended to get a letter from a professor (non science, last one I need) this semester, but I unfortunately choked on the final and ended up with a C+. He says the best he can do is write a "neutral" letter, which I'm truthfully okay with since I think my science and character letters will be pretty good, but he believes that it is a "guaranteed rejection". I know that a mediocre letter can be pretty hurtful, but I had the idea that the other four could make up for it. I intended to apply this June, although I believe I can send in apps without letters or MCAT scores (as long as they're in by a certain date, I've heard June 30? Something like that).

I do have another option with Summer A (May 11-June 19) classes, though. I know that's cutting a bit close, but if the decision is a meh vs a solid letter, I think I take that trade off. There's one class I liked, but it's online only and office hours are still up in the air. Worst comes to worst I can still take a lecture class in Summer A and meet a prof there.

tl;dr: Grade in class sucks, prof believes that whatever letter he writes will be lethal to my app, what to do?

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[Yoseph101]

Have you never taken another non-science class? Try going to one of your gen-ed professors and asking for a letter. A generic "Reticence got an A in my class" should probably suit your purposes and you wont have to pin everything on taking another non-science.

 

[deleted577188]

Stay away from anyone with his type of honesty.

 

[reticence]

Have you never taken another non-science class? Try going to one of your gen-ed professors and asking for a letter. A generic "Reticence got an A in my class" should probably suit your purposes and you wont have to pin everything on taking another non-science.

I've taken other non-science classes, but the problem is I took them at least a year ago. I doubt the professors remember me even a little. I could maybe rekindle the flame this summer, lol. I did get A's in two non-sci classes (one taken spring freshman year and the other taken last year). Unfortunately, a few other non-sci classes that I got A's in were all online, so I never talked to the profs.

Stay away from anyone with his type of honesty.

Heh. I don't know how well-versed he is in how rec letters are evaluated, but..call it a moment of pre-med neuroticism.

 

[Yoseph101]

I've taken other non-science classes, but the problem is I took them at least a year ago. I doubt the professors remember me even a little. I could maybe rekindle the flame this summer, lol. I did get A's in two non-sci classes (one taken spring freshman year and the other taken last year). Unfortunately, a few other non-sci classes that I got A's in were all online, so I never talked to the profs.

Just ask them dude: if you're a good candidate and you can sell yourself in an in-person meeting you could have a chance at getting an acceptable, if not good, letter. The worst they can say is no and you'll be in the same situation you currently are in.

 

[reticence]

Just ask them dude: if you're a good candidate and you can sell yourself in an in-person meeting you could have a chance at getting an acceptable, if not good, letter. The worst they can say is no and you'll be in the same situation you currently are in.

That's true. At this point I'm not worrying about pride really. I guess if anything I got an A in their class so it'd be better than the guy I got a C+ in. Better turn on the charm...

 

[GatorsKW14]

Hello everyone.

I had a question about grades and rec letters. I had intended to get a letter from a professor (non science, last one I need) this semester, but I unfortunately choked on the final and ended up with a C+. He says the best he can do is write a "neutral" letter, which I'm truthfully okay with since I think my science and character letters will be pretty good, but he believes that it is a "guaranteed rejection". I know that a mediocre letter can be pretty hurtful, but I had the idea that the other four could make up for it. I intended to apply this June, although I believe I can send in apps without letters or MCAT scores (as long as they're in by a certain date, I've heard June 30? Something like that).

I do have another option with Summer A (May 11-June 19) classes, though. I know that's cutting a bit close, but if the decision is a meh vs a solid letter, I think I take that trade off. There's one class I liked, but it's online only and office hours are still up in the air. Worst comes to worst I can still take a lecture class in Summer A and meet a prof there.

tl;dr: Grade in class sucks, prof believes that whatever letter he writes will be lethal to my app, what to do?

He is bluntly telling you that he will write you a bad letter. That is not a good sign and I would not use it.

 

[reticence]

He is bluntly telling you that he will write you a bad letter. That is not a good sign and I would not use it.

Yeah. Guess it's gonna be summer classes for me then. I don't like the idea of leaving that little time before the deadline, but what can ya do.

Thanks to everyone who replied in this thread!

 

[candbgirl]

Are any of the professors you're considering taking in Summer A been your teacher before? I'm not sure you can expect a good letter after 40 days. I don't know what you should do but I agree you shouldn't use the letter from your current teacher. He has as much as told you the letter won't be good. The other four letters won't make up for a mediocre or bad letter. I'd think it would call into your judgement for even submitting it. Especially when you know about it ahead of time.

 

[reticence]

Are any of the professors you're considering taking in Summer A been your teacher before? I'm not sure you can expect a good letter after 40 days. I don't know what you should do but I agree you shouldn't use the letter from your current teacher. He has as much as told you the letter won't be good. The other four letters won't make up for a mediocre or bad letter. I'd think it would call into your judgement for even submitting it. Especially when you know about it ahead of time.

It's doubtful I'll have had any of the potential profs before since the ones I had are either not teaching that semester or teaching a class I've already taken. I did think about the short time that they would've known me, but I felt it was okay because the semester is over in 6 weeks anyway, so we have 5 classes a week for 90 minutes, plus office hours. Hopefully it's enough (of course, that doesn't fly for online classes).

You're right about the shaky judgment part though. That's something I considered - I mean, it'd look pretty sketchy if I submitted a subpar letter from a prof I got a C+ from. I just hoped that 4 other good letters would mitigate the damage a little and I wasn't sure if I could skate by with one shaky letter as long as the others were good. There will be many applicants with 5 good letters and it's a huge setback to have 4 good and 1 meh - Lord knows I don't need any more disadvantages in a med school application.

 

[tofuuu]

Just like how a good MCAT score doesn't make up for a bad GPA, four good letters isn't going to make up for one bad letter. Your professor is pretty much trying to tell you that 1) he doesn't want to write your letter and 2) he's going to write you a bad (not neutral) letter if you make him write you a letter.

I don't know if you should rely on your summer professor either for 2 reasons 1) There's always the possibility that you two don't get along for whatever reason and 2) He might not be able to submit the letter in a timely manner with such a short notice, which would prevent your application from being completed earlier. I'm assuming you're not going to ask him for a letter until after the class ends. While most people recommend a minimum of 2 weeks notice, it is preferably better to let them know 1 month in advance. With that said, i'd actually suggest contacting one of your previous non-science professors as soon as possible. The letter probably won't be strong and at best neutral, but at least you got an A in their class and your application is more likely to be completed on time. I'd only resort to your summer professor if this option doesn't end up working out. Good luck!

 

[reticence]

Just like how a good MCAT score doesn't make up for a bad GPA, four good letters isn't going to make up for one bad letter. Your professor is pretty much trying to tell you that 1) he doesn't want to write your letter and 2) he's going to write you a bad (not neutral) letter if you make him write you a letter.

I don't know if you should rely on your summer professor either for 2 reasons 1) There's always the possibility that you two don't get along for whatever reason and 2) He might not be able to submit the letter in a timely manner with such a short notice, which would prevent your application from being completed earlier. I'm assuming you're not going to ask him for a letter until after the class ends. While most people recommend a minimum of 2 weeks notice, it is preferably better to let them know 1 month in advance. With that said, i'd actually suggest contacting one of your previous non-science professors as soon as possible. The letter probably won't be strong and at best neutral, but at least you got an A in their class and your application is more likely to be completed on time. I'd only resort to your summer professor if this option doesn't end up working out. Good luck!

Thanks for the good luck. I'm going to try both options - asking my old profs that I got an A in as well as taking Summer A classes. Couldn't hurt. And yeah, I was a bit concerned with the timeline. Trying to find the balance between them knowing me longer vs giving them enough time to have everything in before D-Day is tricky, although there's still the chance the old profs could turn me down and I'd have to do the summer route anyway.

I agree with you in that it feels like I'm pressuring him to write the letter now. He tried to talk me out of it today actually and I said I needed time to think about it. But it does feel like he really doesn't want to - if I force it, it could end pretty badly, never mind the fact I got a C+.

 

[tofuuu]

Thanks for the good luck. I'm going to try both options - asking my old profs that I got an A in as well as taking Summer A classes. Couldn't hurt. And yeah, I was a bit concerned with the timeline. Trying to find the balance between them knowing me longer vs giving them enough time to have everything in before D-Day is tricky, although there's still the chance the old profs could turn me down and I'd have to do the summer route anyway.

I agree with you in that it feels like I'm pressuring him to write the letter now. He tried to talk me out of it today actually and I said I needed time to think about it. But it does feel like he really doesn't want to - if I force it, it could end pretty badly, never mind the fact I got a C+.

Sounds like a plan to me!