Recommendation Letters

[phillips101]

---

Members do not see this ad.

First, I apologize if this exact question has been posted previously. Please redirect me if so.

I have been working at my currently lab for 2 years now as a full-time RA and will have about 3 years of experience by the time I apply in the coming cycle. As far as recommendation letters go, I don't really know who to ask other than the individuals I work for in the lab. They are all researchers, including the PI, and I believe they will be able to write me very good letters as they seem very pleased with my work. However, recently, a friend of mine said that getting letters from the same lab isn't good, since they're not "diverse enough". The only other person who I believe knows me well enough to write me a good letter is an individual whom I volunteered with in college. It was a companionship type of volunteering program. I graduated from college in 2009, and have not kept in touch with any of my professors (never really knew them in the first place).

So my question is:
Is it really that bad to have recommendation letters from different people at the same lab? Then someone on this forum said it's "risky" for me to ask the lady I volunteered with to write me a letter. However, she writes letters for premeds all the time. I don't want to have to email a professor I took ONE class with in college and ask him to write me a letter just because I got an A, and just for the sake of diversifying my writers. I have worked at other labs in college, but that was 3-4 years ago, and I have not kept in touch with them, I'm sure they hardly remember me.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Marissa4usa]

Others may think differently but why don't you just submit four letters of recommendation? I don't personally think that getting letters from people in the same lab is bad in itself (as long as they are your actual supervisors). But if you are worried about diversity, I would just throw in the letter from the lady you volunteered for. I don't think "non-diverse" letters in itself will make you a less appealing applicant if your application is strong otherwise.

Just my $.02.

 

[PsychPhDone]

I had two letters from the lab where I did post-bacc research and the rest were from my undergrad. I don't think two from the same place is so bad as long as they have some different things to say.

 

[phillips101]

Right, that's what I thought as well. The people in the lab are those I actually work with and can speak to different aspects of my experience in the lab. Thank you for your replies.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Right, that's what I thought as well. The people in the lab are those I actually work with and can speak to different aspects of my experience in the lab. Thank you for your replies.

Sounds good to me. I'd imagine the "don't get two letters from the same lab" advice applies more to individuals who're still in undergrad/grad school and have other rec letter options, and/or are in small labs and would be getting letters from both the POI and a grad student RA, for example.

 

[Glees]

Just wanted to revive this thread with a question: Is it alright to submit four letters of recommendation?

Just as a little background, one of my writers is an LCSW-level vice president of operations at the community mental health center at which I work as an RA. Some schools specify that they prefer doctoral-level references. While I can obtain the extra doctoral-level reference, I know that this person has written me a glowing recommendation and I'd love to include it.

 

[psych for path]

Just my 2 cents, but I've been told by admissions committees and others on this thread that it's generally bad form to submit anything extra for them to read that they didn't ask you for...

I had this issue as well, and ultimately only used the glowing-but-from-someone-less-academic reference for schools that explicitly allow 2-5 letters.

 

[ResearchGirlie]

When I was on the admissions committee at my school we didn't read anything extra. So a person who included 4 recs would take their chances on the 3 that were actually read. I wouldn't do it. You can't imagine how much reading is involved in admissions decisions - you don't want to add extra burden.

 

[missentity]

When I was on the admissions committee at my school we didn't read anything extra. So a person who included 4 recs would take their chances on the 3 that were actually read. I wouldn't do it. You can't imagine how much reading is involved in admissions decisions - you don't want to add extra burden.

Do any schools ask for more than three? I haven't seen this so far in my research but I always feel like I'm missing something! I have 3 people lined up and I haven't asked anyone else because I don't want to have to go back and tell him/her, "oops, never mind, I don't need you after all!"

Did anyone ever ask someone to be a backup in case something came up for one of their original three? Did they mind being a backup?

Thanks!

 

[fallen625]

For people with 4 potential letters (lucky you!) I would suggest diversifying - ei having some people send letters to a set of school, and then another set of people send letters to another set of schools.

A question that is kind of related - what if I was president of a club on campus that deals with the issue that I am interested researching? I did a lot of work for the club and the club advisor (who is actually a nutritionist) could write a strong letter. Would it be okay to ask her if my other two letters come from Psychology PhD's? Or is this risky and I should stick to a professor I took a classs witth (but who really didn't know me that well except for my performance in the class)?

 

[mewtoo]

Do any schools ask for more than three? I haven't seen this so far in my research but I always feel like I'm missing something! I have 3 people lined up and I haven't asked anyone else because I don't want to have to go back and tell him/her, "oops, never mind, I don't need you after all!"

Did anyone ever ask someone to be a backup in case something came up for one of their original three? Did they mind being a backup?

Thanks!

I haven't seen any schools that ask or say its allowable to send more than 3. The closest I've seen is one school said its okay to send in extra stuff that would help with your application, but I just assumed they meant something along the lines of a writing sample or your CV.

 

[mewtoo]

For people with 4 potential letters (lucky you!) I would suggest diversifying - ei having some people send letters to a set of school, and then another set of people send letters to another set of schools.

A question that is kind of related - what if I was president of a club on campus that deals with the issue that I am interested researching? I did a lot of work for the club and the club advisor (who is actually a nutritionist) could write a strong letter. Would it be okay to ask her if my other two letters come from Psychology PhD's? Or is this risky and I should stick to a professor I took a classs witth (but who really didn't know me that well except for my performance in the class)?

Is the nutritionist doctoral level? Although its probably not anywhere near the same as psych doctoral school, there's a baseline assumption that someone with a doctorate in anything knows what kind of student it takes so I think it wouldn't be risky. If they are masters level, then its more complicated. Still though, I think someone who saw you work hard at an academic club would be better than someone who you just took one throwaway class with.