Weird LOR Question?

[@Hazel-rah]

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Which is stronger?
Is a co-written letter even a thing?? Cause I've heard of committee letters... I'm non-trad, so can I form my own little committees to write letters or is that weird?

Example A:
1. LOR from professor/lab director where you did research, but had less contact?
2. LOR from the PhD candidate with whom you worked closely on said research, who is now an assoc prof at a different school?
3. Co-written LOR from both people?

Example B:
1. LOR from one physician with whom I work?
2. LOR co-written by multiple physician co-workers?
3. LOR from my nurse manager--direct supervisor?




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[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I don't know if co-written letters are really a thing outside of a formal committee letter that you get from a university premed committee. I would probably avoid that, if I were you, if only because it seems uncommon and thus who knows how adcoms would feel about it. Plus it might make extra work for your letter writers if they need to collaborate with each other to write the letter.

I would definitely ask your nurse manager, if you feel they'll write you a strong letter. The doctor you worked with seems fine, too, as long as they can speak to what you actually did at the job as well as your good qualities. Use your best judgment about the lab director. If you think they don't know you well enough, I don't see any issue with asking the PhD candidate you worked with.

EDIT: Probably best to stick with direct supervisors, professors, PIs over coworkers. Coworkers may seem a bit too close to give an impartial evaluation.

 

[aldol16]

Co-written letters are a thing but they are for different purposes than yours. Co-written/co-signed letters are usually for larger classes when either you or the professor asks the TA to write/draft the letter which is then signed by both the TA and the professor. We do this because in large classes, it's difficult for the professor to get to know all the students since the professor is likely only responsible for lectures. So even if you're a gunner pre-med and go to every office hour, the professor will still have limited knowledge of you and your work. The graduate TA usually has a much better idea and can evaluate you relative to your peers so we write the letter and the professor co-signs it in the end.

Committee letters are completely different and are done in many ways. Generally speaking, the committee at your university will collect all the individual LORs and use that to write a committee letter which evaluates you in the context of other applicants at your school. It provides medical schools with a snapshot of your candidacy vis-a-vis your peers at your school. The letter is sent out to medical schools and may or may not include all the individual letters of recommendation as well.

Having two different research advisors with no relation to one another co-write a letter is strange - just get letters from each of them if you spent a significant amount of time in their labs. That is, if you only spent a summer and are approaching the maximum limit for LORs and have someone else who knows you better, then it may be advisable to ask the person who knows you better to write it. But if you spent a year or two in the lab, then it looks suspect if you don't have a letter from the PI.

 

[gyngyn]

Do you have at least two letters from professors who have taught you?
I can't recommend letters from co-workers. One letter from a supervisor is fine.

 

[@Hazel-rah]

Thanks for your responses.

 

[aldol16]

I am a nurse, so a couple of the physicians I work under (yes they are coworkers but they are also doctors and I am a nurse, so also higher-ups than me) have offered to write a letter, so could they write a letter and sign it together?

I did research at a lab five years ago, so the PHD student I worked with has moved on and is now a professor. He would be the one to write the letter, then co-sign it with the PI of the original lab where I worked. Does that make sense?

Do all the physicians know you very well or is it one doctor who knows you well and the others not so well?

Yeah, now that research letter makes more sense and sounds good.

 

[Mansamusa]

I was under the impression that most research LORs are co-written (as in the PI puts his/her name on it, but it was written in collaboration with multiple people, sometimes including the applicants themselves)

 

[@Hazel-rah]

Yes.

 

[gyngyn]

Yes I have worked in this department for five years. All the physicians know me. They want me to come back and work with them when I'm done. Of course, there is one who is my neighbor, mentor, friend; I'm not equally close to all of them. I'm just wondering if that is weird to have the group of physicians sign the letter or if I should just pick one. I'm thinking way ahead, I won't need letters for a while, but I won't have time to think about this stuff once I'm in classes in the fall so I'm obsessing over minutiae now... 🙂


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Letters from co-workers (whether they are physicians or not) are not very powerful. If you are applying to one of the very few schools that request "clinical" letters it would serve in that capacity, however.