the 3 letters of recommendation: help me decide who to pick

[toffeetree]

do you think a) or is better:

 

a)

1 - research advisor and bio professor (your standard great letter from PI)

2 - english professor (very personal)

3- community service (but i am not 100% sure how strong this is)

 

OR

 

1 - research advisor and bio professor

2 - english professor

3 - another science professor (either orgo or bio, both would be great)

 

I also should mention that the most personal recommendations for me ARE the recommendations from academic faculty, because they have seen me grow the most, and they know me best. In fact, the letter from my english prof IS a character recommendation, except that he is also a prof. And the letter from my research advisor is also probably pretty personal. The other bio prof would be amazing too. So for me, academic and character references are not mutually exclusive...so I'm a little confused.

[mrgreek]

I would go with a), something about 3 profs that doesn't sit right with me.

[bioboy2007]

I disagree. I would go with (. If you already know that all three letters will be strong, don't risk potentially getting a not-so-great letter from a community service reference.

[Alastriss]

I think its a tough one, and choosing LORs have a certain strategy in itself.

 

It comes down to the biology prof vs community service reference. Will the bio professor LOR be similar to your english prof LOR? Perhaps the community service reference letter will be able to highlight different virtues of yourself and in a totally different social scenario. List the pros of each and see which one would give you a more holistic view of yourself to the ad com

[Julie]

If you think the community will be decent, go with a. If you don't, go with b. With most schools I know, letters are primarily used to pop red flags... everyone has good ones except for maybe the exception, so as long as everything appears normally good, you should be fine.

 

In general, if you go with b, they may wonder why you didn't have anyone in your community that could write a letter... but that's probably still better than a bad letter. I think the difference between a good & a stellar LOR is probably not that important, it's mainly the difference between good & red flag that matters (at least for the schools I know).

 

Also keep in mind that for community, it doesn't really have to be someone really high up in a hierarchy or anything. I had a good friend of mine who was the president of our school's enviro club write one for me about my involvement with them. I had devoted a lot of time to the club while she was president, & it was good enough for the admin committees...

[bonito23]

I would go with a, for the plain reason that OMSAS recommends that at least one of the 3 referees be a non-academic referee. Also with the letters just being "flags" it would not matter too much, but the community service individual will give the admissions committee a different perspective about your qualities. The 3 profs will be expressing more or less the same general idea, as to your intellectual and cognitive abilities.

 

I would go with a.

 

Cheers

B

[Orchid]

on a similar note,

 

which is preferable here?

 

a

1 prof

2 volunteer/ extracurricular

 

b

2 profs

1 volunteer/ extracurricular

 

if you suspect all 4 individuals are equally strong as references.....

 

any insight MUCH appreciated

[The Law]

on a similar note,

 

which is preferable here?

 

a

1 prof

2 volunteer/ extracurricular

 

b

2 profs

1 volunteer/ extracurricular

 

if you suspect all 4 individuals are equally strong as references.....

 

any insight MUCH appreciated

 

 

Personally, I think A is better if they'll all right good quality LORs. The profs will both end up talking about your great academic skills and what not - but the volunteer/ECs probably know you on a whole different level. Unless your profs know you very well, pick whoever you think will be able to show your diverse abilities best.

[hp18]

I believe letter of reference are used as red flag only in schools like McMaster.

[toffeetree]

ok, thanks for the good discussion guys. i'm going to go with a) to get one science, one english, one community service for a well rounded application. good luck to everyone!

[radhika]

Hi guys

i had a similar question

OPTION A

1) Science prof

2) MD i work with

3) My volunteer coordinator with whom i have been working for over a yr now

 

OPTION B

1) AND 2) are the same

3) Pharmacist whom i worked with one summer who i had to have long talks and i know he will write a great letter

 

A is more well-rounded but in B i know my pharmacist ( hope he is still around) will write a good letter

 

Thanks

[degoo_]

I didn't read the replies, but I hope this is repeated here.

I'm not an expert by any means (nor an admissions consultant lol), but I think some people may not be going about this process ideally.

Remember, you want to make the best application package possible. That means that some parts of your application have to compliment other parts.

 

I think the letters are very important and support the things you've been talking about in the ABS and essays.

 

If you say you've volunteered at A, B and C but don't have a supporting letter for any of them, it may imply something to the reviewer. Either 1) You made them up, 2) You do them half ass and don't know people well enough to request a letter 3) You know you won't get a good letter if you asked 4) You have such good letters elsewhere you can't provide one from A B or C.

I mean how awkward would it be if you volunteered overseas for 3 summers straight, but have no letter regarding this experience. If I were a reviewer, that would certainly jump out at me and I'd wonder why.

 

So if you give in an application with 3 letters from professors, and none from elsewhere, there is no support for half the stuff you write. It is very easy to write stuff down, but difficult to have a third party write a letter discussing your role in something. Of course, this may work out in the end and I know people for whom it did, but why risk it. Get letters that make your application whole.

 

There is no gold standard to getting in, but I think always looking at your application as a whole, as it would be viewed by someone who doesn't know you at all, is prudent.