Are interdisciplinary LoRs a bad idea?

[ResilientDreams]

Hello!

I will be applying to PhD programs for developmental psychology for Fall 2019. I have been heavily involved in two research labs related to my field, so I know I'm going to ask those professors for sure. However, I am not sure who to use for my third recommender. I could either ask this one linguistics professor to show my interdisciplinary interest (one of my interests in language development), but I've only had one class with her. I could also ask my French professor, which is a completely unrelated field, but I've taken French every semester and will be a TA/peer tutor for her this upcoming year (shows work ethic and ability to serve as a TA?). 

What do you all think? 

[HTM18]

I think either would work. I had a visiting scholar write me an LOR even though I only took 1 class with him. The French professor could write a more personal LOR given that they know you better. Also, consider your grades for the courses.

[megabee]

Interdisciplinary LORs can hurt you, depending on the field. I don't know how it is for developmental psych. Perhaps cultivate a new relationship in the psych department? Pick a prof that you've had a class with but don't know through research. Drop by their office and ask for advice with grad school apps, where to apply, etc. Even if they don't give you useful advice, seeing them in a one-on-one setting weekly will establish a relationship. It takes a surprisingly short amount of time to do this. If they're helping you through the application process, they'll probably happily agree to write you a letter.

[ResilientDreams]

@megabee

I sort of had a feeling that might be the case...the unfortunate thing is that of the six other psychology professors I've had class with, two have retired/left (and I didn't know them well enough to try to track them down and ask for a rec), two are only on campus once a week and specialize in clinical, which is not my interest area, and the other two are still on campus but way outside of my interest area. And in the fall I'm only taking class with the professors I've done research with.

By contrast, even though I've only had one class with her, I actually know the linguistics professor much better than I expressed in my original post. She runs the linguistics lab meetings that I attend, and I'm going to ask her to serve on my honors thesis committee. I feel like since first language acquisition (my interest area) is inherently interdisciplinary, then perhaps that recommendation would be okay.

I could alternatively try to contact one of the clinical professors and ask them for a rec...but I don't want to go into clinical so that doesn't really make sense to me.

[ResilientDreams]

Hello!

I hope this doesn't count as double posting, but I had posted in the LoR thread asking for advice about choosing my third recommender. I have been heavily involved in two research labs related to what I want to study throughout undergrad, so I know those will be strong recommendations, but I'm having issues thinking of a third person to ask. I'm starting to lean towards asking this linguistics professor that I've had in class before who also runs the linguistics lab meetings that I've presented at. I will also be asking her to serve on my honors thesis committee. However, I got a response back on my thread from someone outside of psych who said that interdisciplinary LoRs are a bad idea in some departments. Does anyone know if this is the case for psych? One of my main interests is first language acquisition, so I feel like it's inherently interdisciplinary. Also, most psych PhD programs I've looked at don't even require that you major in psych, so doesn't that imply they're more open to LoRs from other areas?

I ~could~ try to cast around in the psych department for someone else to write a LoR for me, just for the sake of having a psych professor do it, but most of the other professors I've had have retired/left or are part time lecturers whose areas of specialty are way outside my interest area. Seeing as I'm interested in first language acquisition, I feel like an LoR from the linguistics professor who knows me is better than trying to track down the part time clinical adjunct professor I had for developmental psych. But I ~could~ do it, if it's absolutely necessary.

Thoughts?

[ResilientDreams]

Oh, looks like someone merged my threads for me...see above for the original exchange. 

[PsyDuck90]

I think asking your linguistics professor is fine, as she can speak to your research experience and as a student. When looking at interdisciplinary letter writers, it's best to pick someone who is still relevant and knows you well enough to provide an in depth letter because they know you personally.