Will not having a letter from my research PI hurt my chances?

[Mary R]

Long story short, I believe that my PI would only be able to write me a letter that is mediocre at best. They were not very involved in my research and didn't spend much time in the lab. I mostly worked with the main researcher. I have other letters that I know will be excellent from various professors and from extracurricular activites. Will this hurt my chances of getting into a T20, since they greatly value research? Should I have the main researcher write me a LOR, as he knows me more and directly saw my work in the lab?


Here is a little more about me:

GPA/MCAT: 3.98 / 520 Have 2 science and 2 nonscience LORs from professors
Clinical experience: 1000 hrs CNA and 50 hrs volunteering (canceled due to covid) Have a LOR from CNA supervisor
Research experience: 520 hrs (2 posters, 1 1st author university published report, 2 department seminars, 1 1st author published medical literature review)
Shadowing experience: 100 hours
Non-clinical volunteering: 1400 hours Have 2 LORs from coordinators of my 2 of my main organizations
Tutoring / TA: 1000 hours Included in 2 LORs from professors mentioned above
Extra-Curricular Activities: 160 hours (pre-med club and student conduct board)
Leadership: 1000 campus ministry and 40 hours senior honor society and 50 hours journal chief editor Have a LOR from ministry leader
Honors: 300 hours university honors program and 50 hours senior honor society (non-leadership)
Athletics: D2 athlete (3 years) = at least 2500 hours
Non-Clinical Employment: 1500 hours
Gap Year Plans: Clinical research internship + MCAT tutor

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Not saying too much, but it would definitely raise my eyebrows if I was on an admissions committee, unless you have an LOR from another PI

Won’t ruin your chances by any means and I wouldn’t say it’s a red flag. More like an orange flag that would cause somebody to yield and evaluate further.

I’d be careful with campus ministry letter.

 

[Mary R]

Not saying too much, but it would definitely raise my eyebrows if I was on an admissions committee, unless you have an LOR from another PI

Won’t ruin your chances by any means and I wouldn’t say it’s a red flag. More like an orange flag that would cause somebody to yield and evaluate further.

I’d be careful with campus ministry letter.

Should I ask for a letter from the lab tech/main researcher? I don't know his exact title but he was the main/principal researcher in the lab. Despite not being labeled as the PI, he does almost all of the research and was the 1st author on the last two papers published by the lab. The PI was never in the lab the entire time I did research, but he was and has already written me a great letter for my clinical research internship.

As far as the ministry letter goes, she has been the staff member that has seen me grow as a person since she met me as a freshman and as a leader since I started sophomore year. She is very reasonable and agreed to focus on discussing my leadership qualities and not include much about the religious aspect of our group. I know that it is a very touchy subject, but since it is my biggest leadership involvement and I have 1000 hrs of leadership involvement with the ministry, I felt that she was the best person to speak to my abilities and growth as a leader. Hopefully with minimal mention of religion that it will still be okay... I can always change my mind and not use it but I wanted to have it in case I want a letter focused on my leadership qualities.

 

[JCha360194]

Why don't you have the main researcher co-sign with the PI? Then the main researcher can offer to write the letter for the PI (he must write it in the perspective of the PI) and just edit the one he used for your clinical research internship to be geared towards medical school. For my LORs where I worked closely with a post-doc, they co-signed with my PI since they knew me better than my PI, and the PI was on-board with it.

 

[aldol16]

Have the person you worked with the most write it and then the PI co-sign it. Obviously make sure the PI is willing to do that first. If you have a substantial amount of research from a lab including posters/publications and no PI letter, people are going to question why.

 

[LizzyM]

If the main researcher has been first author on two papers with you, I think that you can ask that person to write on your behalf and it will be fine. No need for a co-signer.

I would not have any issue with the ministry leader writing about your leadership of a group.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

To be brief: No PI letter is better than a weak PI letter if you are trying to highlight research as a strong quality of your application. There are other ways we can find out if you got insight from your research.

Supportive on the campus minister letter. If its a strong one that confirms your leadership, reliability, compassion, and humanitarian qualities we want to see in health care, it could be good. Again strong letters are valuable.