<p>Argh. I've posted on this before but I am still unsure. I've spent 3 summers and 2 years in a lab and I'm joining another lab for my thesis. I think both PI's are more than recognizeable in their respective fields. What I want to do in grad school is in some sense a mix of what I've done so far - combining the parts I've liked from my first lab experience. I think both PI's are well connected - postdoc'd in top labs in their fields in US, imo. Publish in C/S/N often enough considering the time they've had their labs. And I have a good relationship with my first PI. NOW.. what the hell do I do about the 3rd LOR. I just don't know. I'm tossing ideas in my head. My favorite class (and smallest class of ~13 people), I got an A, but not my top mark at all. I don't really speak, although I've gone to office hours because I was so damn confused in the beginning. Other than that I hate going to class so I rarely do, and if I do, I sleep (I'm not an auditory learner <em>at all</em>, just give me the book, plz). I think I'll be working with a research associate at my new lab but I am skeptical of his writing ability. In my previous lab I worked with grad students or independently.. but I get along with everyone in the lab really well, at the lab and outside the lab to. I've shown postdoc's how to do things they don't know, I've sorted through data for grad students for protocols they are not familiar with, etc. I'm thinking it might be more meaningful to get a good LOR from a no-name than a super uber generic one from a PI (who is not at all btw in the field I want to go into). Thoughts? </p>
<p>Unfortunately I think this LOR thing, minus my first PI's since I've spent 27 month in my first lab, is really shooting me in the foot. Maybe it makes sense to get a letter from a postdoc who, although just switched into the field, is on a paper that I'm also on (in prep)?? </p>
<p>I am just going crazy over this.</p>