<p>Hahaha, a graduate student is only a step away from being a professor. That’s a joke, right?</p>
<p>What if your “math” is wrong? What if a graduate student LOR = -2, and a flat one from a professor one = 0?</p>
<p>You’re trying to justify through pseudo-equations the fact that you submitted an LOR from a graduate student, but there is no math involved in how your applications will be viewed. You made your decision, and no one here can predict the outcome. Depending on how strong your other LORs are and on how competitive your targeted programs are, you may get good results. But please don’t mislead other students into believing that LORs from graduate students are desirable. </p>
<p>I’m actually surprised that the graduate student agreed to write it. Since he recently went through the application process himself, he should know better.</p>
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<p>Then why are you asking this on here? I have discussed writing letters with exactly 6 current or former faculty at 3 schools (Penn State, UIUC, Northwestern), and have passed on what I can. If you feel your research is better, then go with it! Departments are often very unique, and while my schools may eschew grad student letters, yours may welcome them! Personally, I would not count on it, but that’s me.</p>
<p>Letters of rec need to come from those who can properly recommend you. I graduated in 2007 and am applying for fall 2010. My letters are coming from 1 prof and 2 supervisors previous jobs. I could have gotten another professor, however a professional recommendation from a former colleague who worked with me on a daily basis is going to be better than a prof whom I barely know.
If the grad student worked with you and knows your capability, then their letter will work just fine. The main meat of your applications are going to be your resume and your essays.</p>
<p>Even if your application turns out to be successful, your situation does not attest to the (still, and will-always-be, minimal) appropriateness of a letter written by a graduate student.</p>
<p>Letters of recommendations from employers or job supervisors are fine because, unlike graduate students, such individuals are obviously in a position to make qualified claims about a recommendee.</p>
<p>If you have been out of school for a few years, a management LOR would be fine because they can speak to your work ethic and performance NOW and because it is unreasonable for many students to get 3 LOR’s from professors they have not seen in a while. A more reasonable comparison to the grad student issue would be to use a slightly more senior co-worker to write your LOR - someone with maybe 3-4 years in the profession.</p>
<p>The big negative with obviously junior LOR writers is that it always begs the question “why isn’t the senior guy writing this?” If you can address that in your SOP, more power to you! For work, one of the more common issues is that you may fear the loss of your job if your manager knows you are applying to grad school (can, does, and has happened). For educational references, this is a lot weaker. The prof is by definition vetted, respected, and established, and writing these letters is an expectation of their job - so why are they getting a letter from an unknown, perhaps about-to-be-kicked-out grad student instead?</p>
<p>I am genuinely interested in the outcome for the OP, and hope that he posts his results here. While it is certainly not required, I hope that after getting the results he would ask the professors at the rejecting schools (if any) whether or not the grad student letter had a positive or negative impact.</p>
<p>Go for the one who knows you well and will write a good LOR. That being said, make sure you have at least one good LOR from a prof.</p>
<p>As a member of a grad admission committee, I offer the following.
The ability to gather three letters of recommendation from professors (or inability) is a measure of the applicant’s competitiveness in of itself. If the applicant has made little to no impression on faculty during his undergraduate studies or his subsequent research experiences it is uncertain whether
a) the applicant demonstrates sufficient excellence or dedication to his proposed academic field
b) the applicant has had sufficient exposure with successful members of his field to choose to pursue graduate education especially in doctorate programs!</p>
<p>Both of these concerns are readily remediated by interning with prof in field of interest during or following undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Last-
a graduate student is very far from being a tenure track-peer reviewed member of the faculty! Letters of ref need to be made by individuals who have seen many succeed and fail and thus can articulate if the applicant appears to have the characteristics of the former or the latter!!</p>
<p>And yes, to reiterate prof X’s comments, letters of recommendation from established professors are written in such a way to communicate volumes by what is unsaid and how things are praised! A graduate student (or post-doc) is likely to be inexperienced in such matters.</p>
<p>That is a very interesting point – I am curious what that “way” of communication is that is looked for in professor recs.</p>
<p>These types of communication tend to be field specific, but below is an example of “Very good” being used to indicate only marginally passing in the biomedical sciences. Most communication is not so transparent or as obviously translated as what is offered below. Often, most of us in a field really do know each other-at least by reputation and thus we can interpret the letters of ref accordingly.</p>
<p>This is for those used to using the old NIH rating scale of acheivement and excellence:
Outstanding=~A
Excellent=~B
Very Good=~C
Good=~D
Fair=~F</p>
<p>As someone who has written and read many many letters of recommendation for graduate admissions (as well as hiring/placement), here are some of the signals that matter.</p>
<p>A strong recommendation states that the applicant is among the top X% or is among the top N of all persons (M) coming out of the program this year, or in the last 15 years, or in “my career.” And because a more experienced or well known faculty member has a large M, the candidate can be made to appear to be very special.</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>“Sandra is the best student I have ever had in M years of teaching” is a pretty darn strong recommendation (when accompanied by some illustrative explanation) from a professor whose M is large.</p>
<p>“Aaron is one of the top 5 students I have ever supervised, on a par with several who have gone on to distinguished academic careers.” (And if a couple of those others are named and known, this is a golden comparison.)</p>
<p>“In the courses that he took with me, Amal distinguished himself as one of the top 2 or 3 students in a very strong group. He…”</p>
<p>The above are just illustrative of my general “formula.” There are many ways to write praiseful letters, including elaborating on particular strengths and achievements and demonstrating thereby that the letter-writer actually knows the student and his or her abilities well. Tell the readers something that only this letter-writer could know, that’s not part of the “transcript.” Provide an evaluation based on experience not just facts that can be found on a resume.</p>
<p>There are many ways to write lukewarm letters through signals.</p>
<p>The basic way is to NOT offer any of the X/N/M ratios. A writer may extol the virtues of the candidate but unless that candidate can be ranked or rated in comparison with other candidates (or persons the letter-writer may be writing for, or has taught in the past, or who have come out of the current school/program), the letter won’t be as favorable. “Herman is a remarkable, articulate, and smart young man who is very ambitious and has great promise” says absolutely nothing about how Hermie compares to the competition.</p>
<p>And here is my favorite line in a letter that may on the surface appear to be a strong endorsement but in fact says nothing of the sort:</p>
<p>“I enthusiastically support Todd’s candidacy for this (fellowship/program/position) to any (school/program/organization) that is seeking someone of his caliber.”</p>
<p>Wait a minute! That tells the reader that you want to get rid of this guy any way you can. It says nothing about what “his caliber” is.</p>
<p>Makinaw is spot on. I think you’ve read some of my letters of ref!!</p>