A professor agreed to write me a letter, but since he is unfamiliar with research programs (he’s an economics professor so he writes more for finance/business programs) he asked me to send him some stuff that research programs look for so he can send a more meaningful letter.
Could anyone with experience in this (perhaps they are an application reviewer) let me know some points I can send him?
Thanks!
I think you need to provide much more information about the field in which you are applying and whether it is a MA or PhD program (or something else). Different disciplines focus on different issues and skills in relation to graduate school applications, and thus letters of recommendation can be quite field specific.
I assume this is a summer undergraduate science research program, and I’ll give advice from that perspective. A few years ago, I was part of a two person committee making admissions decisions for a summer undergraduate research program at a research hospital.
First and foremost, I would try to determine if the applicant had a passion for research. I immediately filed away applications that smelled of using the research program as a resume-stuffer for medical school applications. If the applicant had prior research experience, I wanted to see a letter of recommendation from their research advisor/mentor. If the applicant didn’t have prior research experience, I would want to know why they are pursuing research… again what is the passion? Ideally, the writer of your letter should speak to this passion and reason for pursuing the research opportunity.
Second, the letter writer should convey your work ethic and ability to problem solve.
Third, I wanted to know if you were a nice person and “played well in the sandbox”.
Fourth, a strong letter of recommendation has personal touches that show the author knows the person they are recommending well. Anecdotes, unique experiences, etc. A form letter where anyone’s name could be inserted does nothing to help the applicant.
The writer could discuss your grades and classes but this can be gleaned from your transcript.
Hope this helps!
Yes it is a science research program, thanks!
also @dadof1: If the applicants mention that they had prior research experience (but it was only for a limited period of time) but doesn’t get a letter from their mentor, how did you view that? I was unaware that I was supposed to do that and asked 2 of my professors from last semester
@suffer Ideally, you would get a LOR from your research mentor. If your research mentor doesn’t know you well, then don’t ask this person for a LOR. No worries!
Is this the best person for writing you a letter? If you are doing science research, would it not be better to ask one of your science professors?
General good ideas for recommendation letters:
@bopper I think he knows me better. He teaches stats (which I believe is relevant to research) but it’s economic statistics (I took it for a minor). Do you still think it’s a bad option? I guess it’s too late now because I already asked but it would be good to know for the future