<p>My son did a six-week internship this past summer at a university. The professor in charge of the project he worked on offered to write a letter of recommendation, but the professor barely saw the interns or communicated directly with them. A graduate assistant was the primary point of contact for the interns and the grad assistant interacted with the interns much more and knows what the interns did and how well they worked. Which one should my son request a letter of recommendation from? The professor holds a Ph.D. and would possibly be more impressive (at least by title), but I don't know how much he could/would say in the letter. The grad. assistant knows my son better and can better comment on the work he did, but is it ok to get a letter of rec from a grad assistant rather than the "official" person in charge of the project? My son can only submit one supplemental letter of rec., so he can't use both the professor and the grad assistant.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Tough situation. The way it will work is as follows: The professor will consult the grad assistant, maybe even ask him/her to write a draft. The letter will be completed by the prof. IMO because of a lack of direct contact (even if he/she lies about this in the letter), it will not have the personal touch, appearing dry. Worse yet, he/she may express personal traits that do not fit your son. At best the letter would be neutral.
The grad assistant’s letter is useless. I would not consider a letter from a grad assistant when evaluating an applicant. It has nothing to do with a lack of PhD. Grad assistants have no formal training or experience in evaluating students. Likewise, no experience writing letters. Some may have been an undergrad 2-3 years ago. In addition, I would question why the grad assistant is writing the letter. Did the prof not think highly of your son? If you want to use a letter from the internship it is best for him to take his chances with the prof.
Unfortunately, he learned a lesson the hard way. He should remember this when looking for research experience in college. Be sure the prof is heavily involved in the mentoring of the UGs. Ask current UGs in the labv about the attention they get. Another bad sign is when a lab has a lot of UGs in it. No way a prof can mentor a large number. I cap UGs at 2, may be three max. I know there are exceptions, but avoid labs in medical schools. Much less likely to get any teaching there.</p>
<p>Awesome, Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Since the prof offered, take him up on it. He knows what LOR are all about you can be sure. He will get input from his grad student, that is the usual course of such things.</p>