Letter of Recommendation

[kate775]

After speaking with my advisor I was instructed to reach out to professors within my major whose courses I had received an A in and ask them for letters of recommendation. After doing so, one of my professors responded and said she did not feel she should write me a letter because even though I received a 97/100 in her course, the course did not allow me to demonstrate my writing or verbal expression skills. I have two other CMD professors who are going to be writing me letters or recommendation, I am wondering if instead of having the aforementioned professor write a letter I should reach out to a writing professor with who I also earned an A. My professor told me graduate schools care more about your writing abilities than what was learned in her class. Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated!

Edited October 10, 2016 by kate775

[CBG321]

It depends on the graduate school some school don't really weigh your written score even on the GRE. I would say schools with any kind of research focus are very interested in your writing abilities.  That being said other schools will use your statement of purpose to see if you can write well.  

That being said do NOT use any professor that tells you they don't feel comfortable no matter how nicely they phrase it!  It will not be a good letter (trust me I've seen what kind of letters come from those professors) choose someone else.  

[JcSLP]

I think you should consider asking a professor who can attest to your contributions in class, or what kind of student you are, not just your grade! I only have asked two professors within major, and I plan on asking one professor from the Psychology (my minor) department. Even though it's not a CDS professor, I have taken 3 heavily discussion and critical thinking based courses with her and I know I contributed a lot. You don't want your letter of rec to make it seem like you were just a number in their class! And I agree with CBG321, make sure you ask if they're comfortable writing a strong or positive letter.

[kate775]

The problem i encounter is because I am completing my undergrad in three years I have not had as much time to make connections with all of my professors. I have two CMD professors who I have had multiple classes with who are both writing letters. In this case the teacher was my third option recommended by my advisor because I received an A in the course. I know my writing professor rather well, but my advisor told me that the number of letters they say they want should be from within the major and then you can do an extra outside professor. I believe this is going to be my approach.

[jmk]

Most schools require three letters- at least 2 academic, and then one clinical (or academic).

• Questions: 
  • Are you introverted?
  • Was the course online?
  • Did you not participate very much in class?

The above questions are not meant to come off as rude, but moreso for yourself to figure out the situation.

 Needless to say, I would steer clear of any professor that doesn't seem genuinely excited to write your letters. One mediocre letter of "student can earn the grade but doesn't have the interpersonal skills and would not be a good clinician" is an app killer. I personally would not go with the professor that said s/he didn't know your writing or verbal abilities. You want an excited "yes, I would love to write your letter! Schedule an appt and we can talk about your potential schools!" as a response. 

[iamthesith4382]

I have to agree with the above poster. If a professor feels that they cannot write a strong letter of recommendation, then you should find someone else. It is likely the professor feels they do not know you very well as a researcher or as an analytic thinker after just one course. If I were to ask someone in a different field though, I would make sure they are easily connected back to your area of study (e.g., asking a statistics professor for a letter when applying to a research intensive psychology graduate program). Another option is you could reach out to a professor that you struggled in their course and demonstrated resilience (although not quite obtaining the A). Of course, if you have any research experience or internships applicable to your area of study, you could always ask a supervisor to write a letter.

[kate775]

I have spent a lot of time in an elementary school observing the speech pathologist and working with the children in this setting. Would this be an appropriate person to ask for a letter in reference to my interpersonal abilities? 

[iamthesith4382]

Potentially that could be a great person to ask. Especially if your programs are interested in you having some previous hands on experience!

[jmk]

Definitely! The school speech pathologist sounds like a great 3rd letter. 

For most programs, I am having 2 CD professors write, and then my boss (I work in pediatrics).