<p>I had put this on the Common App forum yesterday and didn't get any replies...so I'm hoping this may be a better forum for the question. Or, maybe nobody actually knows the answer! :)</p>
<p>My S is a rising Senior, and has been fortunate enough to get a paid internship in the field he hopes to pursue in college, in a lab with a tenured prof at a state flagship. The prof is providing nice mentoring and wording for resumes, and from his comments, S has reason to believe he would get a very nice LOR from this prof. S was all set to have his AP Bio teacher and his AP Eng teacher write his LORs for the Common App, but now is wondering whether it would be better to replace one of those with an LOR from this professor? Everyone only talks about teacher references on the Common App...is the student ALLOWED to use someone besides teachers? Would it be better to "save" the LOR from the prof for scholarship opportunities? He is planning to apply to some of those lottery schools where it will be important to find a way to set himself apart...</p>
<p>It would not be a good idea to replace a letter from his classroom teachers with a letter from this professor, because most admissions committees really want teachers’ observations about how well an applicant does the work of being a student. After all, student is the position for which the applicant is applying.</p>
<p>But most colleges and universities would be happy to read a letter from this professor as a supplement to the required letters from classroom teachers.</p>
<p>While some schools permit LORs to come from non-teachers, I can’t think of any selective (not lottery, as that implies that all applicants have an equal chance of acceptance, which is far from accurate) colleges that do.</p>
<p>My son successfully submitted a letter of recommendation from a college professor, but it was for a pair of dual-enrollment courses he took at the state university. He’s now at Brown.</p>
<p>Is it possible for your son to also take a class with this professor, perhaps even by converting the research project into an independent study? That would make the professor eligible as a teacher.</p>
<p>The CA Teacher evaluation has a set of instructions at the top:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>However, this is generalized and is superseded by the specific instructions on each individual college website. For instance, some schools stipulate the subject area of teachers, year of school they taught you, etc. So go to the websites and read their LOR policies and call/email the schools if you have any additional questions.</p>