Graduate School Letters of Recommendation

Graduate School
1

I’m applying to graduate school to do a MS in Electrical Eng. Most of the universities I am applying to require 2-3 letters of rec. I am aware that the ideal recommendation letter for an MS in EE would be from a professor I have done research with. Unfortunately, I changed majors two years into my undergrad and I have only done research with one professor in my field. One other Professor really likes me and I think he would give me a good recommendation. For the last letters of recommendation, I have a couple options:


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Professor A: I took his lab class in my junior year and got an A. I’m going to be taking his advanced class in my senior year. Also, he will be serving as co-adviser for my capstone project and I will be serving as his Teacher Assistant (TA) next year (unfortunately I will be his TA for the last semester which is way after applications are sent out).

Professor B: The two classes I have taken with him I have gotten an A. I also participated in a design competition which he set up years ago and is very involved in. My team came in the top three. He will be the other co-adviser on my capstone project. Everything about him is great except I get this feeling that he doesn’t like me. I don’t know what it is but every one-on-one interaction with him has been awkward. I’m not confident he will give me a good recommendation.

Professor C: I went on a four-month travel abroad program with this Professor. I have a decent personal relationship with him and I got an A for the program project report we submitted. I think he’ll give me a good recommendation but the project I did was not in the field I am applying for. It was a humanities project.

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Choosing this last letter of recommendation is really choosing from some not-so-great options. I’m really conflicted on who might be most appropriate. Any help about who I should choose or any general letters of rec advise would be much appreciated! Thanks a lot :slight_smile:

2

I’d stay away from Professor B.

3

Make an appointment with each of the profs who you think could be good letter writers and have a chat about grad school/career goals. Tell them your goals, how you got interested in those things (especially if they had a hand in building your skills and interests in that area).

You’ll get a better feel for who is the most supportive of your educational goals. Pick that person to write your letter.

4

@confmem1010 - Welcome to the forum. If you have done research with a different professor outside your current major, that is OK too. It is more important that you have done research than the exact field as an undergraduate. Of course, the professors you choose should be willing to write a good letter for you (you can ask that).

5

If I were you, I would not choose professor B.