Who should I ask for a non-science LOR

[speedyIs]

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I have two professors in mind: an English prof from a community college and a Korean Lit prof from my college (Berkeley). My college advisor says that I should get it from the Korean Lit prof, since it's not so good to get one from a community college prof. But the English prof is more willing to write one for me... I have low MCAT WS score. so I suppose LOR from an English prof would help me more... hmmmm is it really that bad to get LORs from community college profs?

 

[vtucci]

Why not get both? Does your school have a pre-med committee that takes snipets from each?

 

[Lilah]

I have two professors in mind: an English prof from a community college and a Korean Lit prof from my college (Berkeley). My college advisor says that I should get it from the Korean Lit prof, since it's not so good to get one from a community college prof. But the English prof is more willing to write one for me... I have low MCAT WS score. so I suppose LOR from an English prof would help me more... hmmmm is it really that bad to get LORs from community college profs?

I’ve also heard that letters from a community college professor are not as effective as those from universities, but I’m not sure how true this is.

Also, if a professor seems unsure about writing you a letter of recommendation you should probably ask someone else. I think a strong letter of rec. from a community college professor is better than a weak one from a university professor.

Finally, there seems to be a consensus that the writing sample is not that important. So I don’t think that a low score there will hurt you, especially if you did well on verbal.

 

[LizzyM]

I’ve also heard that letters from a community college professor are not as effective as those from universities, but I’m not sure how true this is.

Also, if a professor seems unsure about writing you a letter of recommendation you should probably ask someone else. I think a strong letter of rec. from a community college professor is better than a weak one from a university professor.

Finally, there seems to be a consensus that the writing sample is not that important. So I don’t think that a low score there will hurt you, especially if you did well on verbal.

You are right, a strong letter is always better than a weak one. The status of the writer also matters so pay attention to titles: Professor>Associate Professor>Assistant Professor>Instructor>Lecturer.

Schools that want a non-science letter are often interested in how you interact in classroom discussion and in essay type exams and term papers. If your writing or verbal scores were subpar a letter from an English professor would far outweight one from a foreign language professor in assuring the adcom that you have the "write stuff" 😀