Wierd rec letter issue

[Smelt]

Question for a friend who is in a bit of a situation for rec letters. She is applying to TMDSAS.

She has 3 very strong non-science letters (2 from internships and 1 from spanish), but she needs 2 science letters (right?)

She has asked one of her science profs who she thought would be a good recommender a while ago, and he only recently responded with an email saying something along the lines of... "I could write you one...but I can't say much. My experiences with you were from helping you go through a personal time while keeping on track in school." Thing is, on the surface it would seem like a good rec letter: she got A's in two of this profs classes while she was dealing with a family death that the teacher knew about. Its kinda bizzare that he doesn't want to - I'm guessing its b/c its just late in the cycle/school year.

Her worry is that she doesn't have good ideas of other science professors to ask at this point - so would it be better to ask a random science professor who she got an A from considering she has good non-science ones, or would it be better to insist that this guy who has a personal story about her, but is reluctant, to write her one?

Finally, and this might be far fetched, but could the prof from a medical spanish class cover one? It is listed as a spanish course but she says they learned about alot of medical topics.

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[Peach Newport]

It would be a very, very bad idea to get a letter from someone who "helped you through a difficult personal time." This professor knows it, and seemingly she does to. It's simply not appropriate.

You want letters from mentors, not de-facto therapists or life coaches. You want people who speak of your professional and academic sucesses, not your emotional triumphs. You do want someone who can speak to your character - but of your leadership skills, your pragmatism, your teamwork, your empathy... NOT your ability to deal with your own personal demons.

She may very well have overcome a difficult time, and maybe (BIG maybe) it might be relevant in a medical school application. But it's hard to think of a more inappropriate place for that than a letter of recommendation.

You know what they say about airing your dirty laundry.

 

[BigBoss]

A letter from that professor would make it look like he gave her special treatment, which may be seen as an unfair advantage. The professor probably knows that, hence the warning.


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[cloudstrife2054]

She should have done prepared beforehand and asked the professor(s) as soon as she finished having a class with them and if they said yes, she should have kept in touch and display a desire to learn more from the professor even after finishing the class. Science professors are meant to attest to academic qualities after all, and desire to learn is a big one.

 

[candbgirl]

First of all she can't insist he write the letter.Second he said he'd do it but... She doesn't want that kind of letter. Why did she wait so long to get on this big aspect of her application. The big problem now is she just might have to wait until August when most faculty return to campus to find her two recommenders. Many faculty flee for the summer.


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[ndafife]

Rule of thumb for LOR's: If someone doesn't want to write you one, you don't want what they would write.