TA rec

[Tessjane77]

    Hi! So, I am an undergrad senior applying to masters programs in literature. I have two good references locked down, but am anxious about the third.

     I worked as a TA and course tutor for my school’s writing program last year. This went well overall, but I was a couple minutes late to the actual class semi-regularly due to a scheduling mishap. I have discussed this with my supervisor and was not late to anything else regarding this job. I’m worried that it made me seem unprofessional to my supervisor, though? Would this loom over a rec letter from him?

     There are other professors and, more importantly, students, from the program who rave about me. However, I’d need a reference from the man himself (lol) and am not sure whether he feels he same way.  

Does anyone have advice?

[Sigaba]

1 hour ago, Tessjane77 said:

I’m worried that it made me seem unprofessional to my supervisor, though? Would this loom over a rec letter from him?

 There are other professors and, more importantly, students, from the program who rave about me.

Does anyone have advice?

The professor in question could ding you in the LoR gently ding you or he could destroy you with an elegant turn of a phrase or he could submit it late.

Were I in your shoes, I'd consider the merits of having a face to face in which you express your concerns. The key here is to be professional in the conversation: state your concerns, listen to his reply, thank him for his time, make the best decision you can under the circumstances, and move on to the next item on the to do list.

A small point. Unless you're applying to programs that are centered around the training of teachers, having undergraduates "rave" about you may not be your most important achievement as an applicant. I urge you to do your due diligence on a case by case basis before highlighting that accomplishment. 

[Tessjane77]

5 hours ago, Sigaba said:

The professor in question could ding you in the LoR gently ding you or he could destroy you with an elegant turn of a phrase or he could submit it late.

Were I in your shoes, I'd consider the merits of having a face to face in which you express your concerns. The key here is to be professional in the conversation: state your concerns, listen to his reply, thank him for his time, make the best decision you can under the circumstances, and move on to the next item on the to do list.

A small point. Unless you're applying to programs that are centered around the training of teachers, having undergraduates "rave" about you may not be your most important achievement as an applicant. I urge you to do your due diligence on a case by case basis before highlighting that accomplishment. 

Thanks for the reply. What you say makes sense, I sent him a well-crafted email inquiry earlier today that he has not responded to yet (but it's only been a few hours). If he doesn't reply in a couple days, or maybe regardless, I will call him to ask when he's available to meet or suss out when he'll be in his office. Trying not to stress about it.  He's kind of an eccentric, so maybe he will be understanding?

A contingency plan could be to solicit a reference from one of the other professors I worked/taught directly with for that job...have heard it's better to have a great review from a lesser-known prof than a lackluster one from a well-known prof.

As to second part of your statement, I meant in my original post to convey that I performed well in the job besides this issue, not that I plan to ask another undergrad to write me a LoR. However, the harsh reality is that their opinions don't influence the main professor's. Ugh.

I'll see how he responds to my message and go from there!