Which Professor To Use As My Reference?

[Strutter]

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I have a Physics prof. Got a B+ and A- in Physics I & II. I have volunteered for his science challenge two years in a row. But personally got to know him for about 1 year. I've visited his office hours about once every 2-3 weeks when I took his courses. During class I would participate regularly.

I have a Chemistry prof. Got an C+ (got restricted, should have been an A), A, and A, in Chem I, Chem II, and Physical Chemistry. I don't know my chem prof too well, but I would visit her office hours once a month when I took her courses. I have perfect attendance, but have not participated regularly. She's seen me grow academically and as an individual. She's even nominated me for the 2nd year chemistry award, which I won.

Which prof would you use for a letter of reference? (not an academic reference) I have an idea of who I am leaning towards, but I could use your guys' opinion.

 

[EBT12]

Physics professor. A personal connection shows in LOR.

 

[PharmacyWarrior]

I have a Physics prof. Got a B+ and A- in Physics I & II. I have volunteered for his science challenge two years in a row. But personally got to know him for about 1 year. I've visited his office hours about once every 2-3 weeks when I took his courses. During class I would participate regularly.

I have a Chemistry prof. Got an C+ (got restricted, should have been an A), A, and A, in Chem I, Chem II, and Physical Chemistry. I don't know my chem prof too well, but I would visit her office hours once a month when I took her courses. I have perfect attendance, but have not participated regularly. She's seen me grow academically and as an individual. She's even nominated me for the 2nd year chemistry award, which I won.

Which prof would you use for a letter of reference? (not an academic reference) I have an idea of who I am leaning towards, but I could use your guys' opinion.

I would go for both cause it seems that they know you for a while now. You can always send your resume/CV and personal statement for them to read so they could know more about you and make your LORs more personal. PharmCAS allows you to have 4 LORs so why not get 2-3 from professors and 1 from a pharmacist. IMO, it is better to go beyond the minimum requirements (2 LORs) because it says a lot about your character and make you stand out from the crowd (with 2 LORs). Good luck.

 

[xtsukiyox]

IMO, it is better to go beyond the minimum requirements (2 LORs) because it says a lot about your character and make you stand out from the crowd (with 2 LORs).

I have to completely disagree. When a school requires 2 LORs, that means they only want to read 2 LORs. Do you want the admissions folks picking which 2 LORs to send to the adcom, or do you want to pick them yourself? YMMV, but I would strongly suggest asking the school what they'd do with extra LORs before you send extras.

 

[Rouelle]

This might or might not apply, but do you know anyone who has had letters written by either prof? If so, do they know the quality of the letter? Writing LORs sucks, so a lot of people simply have a generic letter of recommendation already written and they just plug in the appropriate name. Some actually put effort into it. While you often don't get to see your letters, there might be some knowledge floating around your school about who writes good letters. If you ask around, you might find out some useful information.