LOR Advice

Graduate School
1

<p>For PhD admissions, I've heard the most important factor is LORs and research experience, so I wanted to ask questions about LORs. </p>

<p>First, I'm applying to biomedical engineering PhD programs, however, my mentor and PI in the research group are both Physics PhDs who currently perform bioengineering research, does this matter?</p>

<p>Second, is it recommended to get a LOR from a post-doc? My mentor is a post-doc who completed her PhD in 2006, so she's technically not faculty, but like second-in-command in the research group aside from the PI. </p>

<p>Third, are LORs from the same research group kind of an over-kill? In my research project, both the mentor and the PI will be seeing me in a research setting, but I imagine their LORs would be very similar...so would this be helpful for admissions?</p>

<p>Third, is it ok to get a LOR from a mentor who is not involved in research/academia? I have a mentor in a Non-Profit org who has known me since 2006, and understands my leadership potential, and capablity to create new ideas, would this be beneficial to my application?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>From what I’ve been told, you would probably be better off with a professor who knows you well and can write about your academic potential than someone who can vouch for you from unrelated experiences such as your non-profit.</p>

<p>Letters from different research groups would be preferable, but within should be acceptable and probably better than alternative choices if you don’t have others who are familiar with your research potential. I’m not sure about the post-doc bit, though. Will be curious what others have to say on that, as I think I know someone who is planning on using a post-doc’s letter. One of my letters will be from an assistant professor who reminded me that his perspective won’t have the same weight as an associate professor and so on. But he knows my work very well and will have things to say that my other letter writers will not likely cover.</p>