<p>Hello everyone:
I have been working closely with a couple of postdocs in a research group, I was wondering when it comes to graduate school, are recommendations from postdocs going to be appropriate?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Generally recommendations are written by faculty members -- I've heard of cases where the faculty member in charge of the group would ask a postdoc to write the recommendation, then the faculty member would sign his name to the final letter. That's probably a somewhat common occurrence.</p>
<p>Personally, I had one letter from a postdoc, and I did just fine in the admissions process (biology). But it's something that would probably be good to avoid if possible.</p>
<p>personally, i would not do it. recommendation letters are easily the most important part of your application. it is best to have letters from people that admission officers can easily recognize. unless the postducs you worked with are well respected in your field, it's probably the best to get letters from professors whose classes you took, and make sure your PI write a superb letter. i think sometimes PI's letter is the reason you get interviews.</p>
<p>Well, I think given the choice between a professor who merely had you in class and a postdoc who knows your research potential, I'd have to choose the postdoc. The admissions committee is not particularly interested in hearing about how you got an A in freshman biology; they want to hear about what kind of researcher you are.</p>
<p>But if the choice is between a PI who has supervised your research and a postdoc who has supervised your research, it's much better to choose the PI, particularly since the postdoc will probably be writing the letter in reality anyway.</p>
<p>same here.
I had a choice between a postdoc or a prof that I just did really well in class.
I eventually chose the post doc.</p>
<p>Overall, I have 2 from profs I worked with and 1 from postdoc.</p>
<p>I still don't know if it's good or bad... I'll know come March hehe when I hear from the schools I applied to.</p>
<p>What is PI? What does that stand for?</p>
<p>nauru: PI=principle investigator, in another word, your boss.</p>
<p>well i think i should clarify what i mean. it is good to ask a professor who taught you in upper div classes and ideally a lab class. i would send the prof an email asking about grad schools (u should toss out ur PI's name there too, like im in XXX's lab). then sit down w/ them and talk about urself and what you want to do. if that is a good experience, you should ask for a letter before you leave their offices. they usually will ask for reference materials before they write letters. i would send them my CV, a few paragraphs describing my most important attributes, my personal statement, and publications. meanwhile, you should keep in touch with ur letterwriters and keep them updated like once a month. </p>
<p>this doesnt work all the time, but a lot of professors r very nurturing and will be glad to hear you are considering grad school.</p>
<p>I had a post-doc write letters of recommendation for me numerous times. Didn't seem to harm me, but I did have a few high-powered letters of recommendation as well. Also, this post-doc got a faculty position not long after I applied for my programs (~3 mths).</p>
<p>There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a letter of recommendation from a postdoc as long as your other letters are from faculty members and your postdoc knows you and likes you well enough to write you a very, very good letter. I had two letters from faculty and one from a postdoc, and I did fine in admissions.</p>