I have two recommenders secure from professors in my field. However, I need a third and a professor from a different department was kind enough to say she would write one for me. Is this a good idea?
My field is History, but she’s in the English department. She also does not have her PhD. However, I’ve built a great repor with her, I respect her greatly, and I believe her recommendation would be quite glowing. Would her letter help me?
If you need a letter from a prof. in another department and feel she knows you well and would write a positive recommendation that why not? I wouldn’t worry about her not having a PhD – the grad schools are not evaluating the professor, they are evaluating you.
If she is not a professor then she cannot be used to fulfill a 3rd “professor letter” requirement. What is her title? Most colleges besides community colleges will not bestow a “professor” title to anyone who has not earned a PhD. Is she listed as just a “lecturer”?
As a supplemental rec it sounds like she could be worth including. But if your schools specify that recs should be from a professor it may be risky and I would find and secure a solid additional professor rec just in case.
In my answer I assumed (correctly or incorrectly) that the person in questions from the English Dept. is a professor (perhaps an adjunct).
She’s listed as a lecturer and not a professor which was my concern in mentioning she didn’t have her PhD (although I expressed that concept poorly).
However, the schools I’ve chosen seem to be lenient in that aspect. It seems to be preferable that they come from my field which is why I have at least two guaranteed there. Still, I greatly appreciated her kindness and considered her as the third.
If the schools you’re applying to say something like “At least three letters, two of which must be professors” or anything more lenient than that you should be fine and she sounds like a great third rec. If the schools specify a minimum of three professors then use her as a supplement and have three full professors.