What if one of my PhD letters of recommendation isn't as strong as the others?

Graduate School
1

I’m a junior math and physics double major (cs minor) and I will be applying to cs PhD programs next year.

My question is: Will it be bad if one of my letters isn’t nearly as strong as the other two?

If you care to have more details on this matter, continue reading below!

I will have been doing particle physics research for 3 year by the time I apply. I know my letter of rec from my advisor is going to be very good, since I actually ended up independently discovering a rare decay (but it turns out someone else had observed it a few months before me, but has not published anything on it (and no one else has either)). On top of that, I’ve had two classes with him and performed at the top of the class, and we are actually pretty close now.

My second letter is coming from my computational physics prof, since I greatly exceeded expectations in that class (I had prior programming experience, so I had already passed the learning curve). He also gave my name to a software company looking for interns last year, so he at least has some level of respect for me.

My third letter is going to be…eh. It will be from a math professor I had for two classes–did well, didn’t really interact much with him. I’ve recently started independently studying Galois theory though, and I’m talking with him about that. I know I’m not as well connected with him (compared to the other two professors I mentioned), so I’m a little worried about the letter. Unfortunately, I didn’t really forge relationships with many professors since I truly dedicated most of my time to my research with my first letter writer.

2

It should be perfectly fine. If he agreed to write you a letter, it should be a strong letter, otherwise why else would he agree in the first place?

3

It should be fine. It can be tough to get an amazing 3rd letter. It sounds like your 3rd is still strong, I think it will be okay.

4

First question: do you need three letters to apply to PhD programs? I only needed two. Second question: if you’re worried about the math prof, can’t you find a different letter writer since you still have 9 months before you apply?

5

I’m a junior math and physics double major (cs minor) and I will be applying to cs PhD programs next year.

My question is: Will it be bad if one of my letters isn’t nearly as strong as the other two?

If you care to have more details on this matter, continue reading below!

I will have been doing particle physics research for 3 year by the time I apply. I know my letter of rec from my advisor is going to be very good, since I actually ended up independently discovering a rare decay (but it turns out someone else had observed it a few months before me, but has not published anything on it (and no one else has either)). On top of that, I’ve had two classes with him and performed at the top of the class, and we are actually pretty close now.

My second letter is coming from my computational physics prof, since I greatly exceeded expectations in that class (I had prior programming experience, so I had already passed the learning curve). He also gave my name to a software company looking for interns last year, so he at least has some level of respect for me.

My third letter is going to be…eh. It will be from a math professor I had for two classes–did well, didn’t really interact much with him. I’ve recently started independently studying Galois theory though, and I’m talking with him about that. I know I’m not as well connected with him (compared to the other two professors I mentioned), so I’m a little worried about the letter. Unfortunately, I didn’t really forge relationships with many professors since I truly dedicated most of my time to my research with my first letter writer.