Will these recommendations work?

[virtuoso735]

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If I took two semesters of research for credit with a professor, will his recommendation count towards a science professor recommendation? I got letter grades for each semester of research I did under his supervision, and it was for my senior project.

Also, for the non-science humanities letter, is it okay to have a lecturer that teaches a foreign language write it? She's not a professor, but a lecturer (has a PhD).

Thanks for any help!

 

[virtuoso735]

No love? 🙁

 

[Morsetlis]

Some schools will take it. Most won't.

Get your LORs from profs who actually taught you in classes.

 

[cyanide12345678]

Some schools will take it. Most won't.

Get your LORs from profs who actually taught you in classes.

I disagree. It doesn't matter if the professors taught you classes or not. You need to get recommendations from people who know you personally very well. Often people go get recommendations from professors who they have never talked to but got an A in their specific class. These professors really cannot say much other than the fact that you did well in the class. So, go for people who you've spent the most time with during college. 1 year at a research lab seems substantial time and I would definitely ask that professor for a recommendation if I were you.

 

[Morsetlis]

I disagree. It doesn't matter if the professors taught you classes or not. You need to get recommendations from people who know you personally very well. Often people go get recommendations from professors who they have never talked to but got an A in their specific class. These professors really cannot say much other than the fact that you did well in the class. So, go for people who you've spent the most time with during college. 1 year at a research lab seems substantial time and I would definitely ask that professor for a recommendation if I were you.

You can disagree with me all you want, but I've gotten calls from medical schools asking me for a real science professor when I've provided them with:

-1 prof who employeed me as his TA after teaching me a class
-1 prof who was my lab PI
-1 postdoc who directly supervised me

...because only 1 of them actually taught me a class, and the schools required 2.

Sure, it's better to combine the two, but if you have limited amounts of letters accepted and can't send all 4-5 letters in, then you gotta look at each school's policy.

 

[music2doc]

You can disagree with me all you want, but I've gotten calls from medical schools asking me for a real science professor when I've provided them with:

-1 prof who employeed me as his TA after teaching me a class
-1 prof who was my lab PI
-1 postdoc who directly supervised me

...because only 1 of them actually taught me a class, and the schools required 2.

Sure, it's better to combine the two, but if you have limited amounts of letters accepted and can't send all 4-5 letters in, then you gotta look at each school's policy.

This.

Disagree all you want. Some schools simply require it to be a professor from a science lecture course. They are sometimes quite specific about the requirements. (Other places, not so much.)

 

[virtuoso735]

The lecturer in a foreign language taught me for two semesters. I took two semesters of French. I didn't mean that I would replace a science prof recommendation with the French teacher's recommendation, but I was wondering if that would fulfill the humanities recommendation.

So a PI who gave me letter grades for research class won't count? I have another professor who taught me in a lecture class writing the other science recommendation.

 

[Morsetlis]

That would be an interesting proposition and would be considered on a school-by-school basis. I would see if the research class is included in your BCPM GPA or not. If not, there is a lower chance that adcoms would consider it a science class.

I would obtain as many LORs as I can (Interfolio), and then pick and choose which to send out to which school depending on their policies, if you absolutely think you must have that person's LOR.

 

[zwitterion34]

The lecturer in a foreign language taught me for two semesters. I took two semesters of French. I didn't mean that I would replace a science prof recommendation with the French teacher's recommendation, but I was wondering if that would fulfill the humanities recommendation.

So a PI who gave me letter grades for research class won't count? I have another professor who taught me in a lecture class writing the other science recommendation.

I think that would work.

Merde pour l'application. 😎