Employer not a native English speaker. Request LOR?

[mmac06]

Hello,

I am three years out of undergrad and am applying to fairly competitive MPP (Public Policy) programs. I plan on tailoring my applications for a specialization in International Development. I am also fairly interested in Environmental Public Policy, but I have much more experience in International Development. I figure I can change specializations once I'm accepted if I decide that International Development is not for me.

At any rate, I have already requested two letters of recommendation. One is from the directors of a study abroad program I did in El Salvador. I know the directors quite well on a personal and academic level, and know they will do a great job. I also requested a letter from an undergrad professor who taught a class on social justice. We did a lot of service projects and discussed global issues often. He also knows me quite well on a personal level.

I wanted to get your advice for my third letter. My options are:

1. An Anthropology professor of mine from undergrad. I did very well in her classes, and she knows me well personally. She knows about my interests in International Development and some of the work that I have done abroad. She is very intelligent and dependable and would write a great letter.

2. My boss of one and a half years (when I was a bilingual case worker at Catholic Charities after undergrad graduation). She knows me on a personal level and has seen my dedication to my clients. I did a lot of great program development during my time at Catholic Charities and worked primarily with Latino immigrants (ties into International Development). Although she has been living in the US for 20+ years and speaks English very well, she is not a native speaker. I am nervous that, although she would write a great letter, there may be some small mistakes in her grammar. Also, she has not written as many LORs as my anthro professor as she is not in academia. Still, I thought it might be good to diversify my letters (academic as well as employment).

Do you have any suggestions or advice? Could I offer to proofread my boss's letter?? Any insights would be most appreciated. Thanks!

[JustChill]

She's lived in the US for "20+ years" and speaks English "very well" but you're worried about her grammar? Have you actually seen any of her writing? Does she make mistakes or not? This seems like an easy problem, because if you've worked with her for a year and a half at some point one would think you'd see something she'd written (an email, document, memo, etc.). I've lived in the US for over a decade, and - while I have an accent - I can write as well and as accurately as any of my peers.

Don't assume that she will make mistakes just because she is an immigrant - particularly if she's lived in the US for over two decades.

Edited July 13, 2010 by JustChill

[mmac06]

She's lived in the US for "20+ years" and speaks English "very well" but you're worried about her grammar? Have you actually seen any of her writing? Does she make mistakes or not? This seems like an easy problem, because if you've worked with her for a year and a half at some point one would think you'd see something she'd written (an email, document, memo, etc.). I've lived in the US for over a decade, and - while I have an accent - I can write as well and as accurately as any of my peers.

Don't assume that she will make mistakes just because she is an immigrant - particularly if she's lived in the US for over two decades.

Thanks for your response. I have seen much of her informal writing (emails, etc.), but not much as far as formal writing (formal letters, etc.). She moved to the US in her early twenties. I would say that she speaks and writes (from what I have seen) with about an 80-85% accuracy rate.

P.S. I apologize if my critique of her English came across as offensive. Believe me, she is a very capable and intelligent person and I respect her very much as a friend and co-worker. Still, I know how competitive some of these application processes can be so I wanted to get other people's opinions.

[JustChill]

No offense taken. Just be careful of making generalizations or assumptions. Best of luck in the application process.

[American in Beijing]

She's lived in the US for "20+ years" and speaks English "very well" but you're worried about her grammar? Have you actually seen any of her writing? Does she make mistakes or not? This seems like an easy problem, because if you've worked with her for a year and a half at some point one would think you'd see something she'd written (an email, document, memo, etc.). I've lived in the US for over a decade, and - while I have an accent - I can write as well and as accurately as any of my peers.

Don't assume that she will make mistakes just because she is an immigrant - particularly if she's lived in the US for over two decades.

Just because her oral English is very good, doesn't mean that her formal writing skills are just as good. Living in a country for decades can obviously give you a lot of great spoken skills and teach you how to write a basic e-mail, but it doesn't mean that you can write a formal recommendation. Formal writing is very different from interacting with people in day-to-day life, and can be very hard to pick up if you didn't spend 12 years in an English-speaking secondary education system (which means extra kudos for you, JustChill, for being able to write so well!). For instance, I asked one of my non-native English speaking professors to write me a recommendation once. She has lived in America for 15 years, has no discernible accent, and only VERY rarely makes grammar mistakes, but I was very surprised at how informal and sloppy the letter was. She's an adjunct language professor with only a MA, so she doesn't often get the chance to write them. So even though her English is amazing and she's one of the professors who honestly knows me best, I don't ask her to write LORs for me anymore.

Unless your boss has a lot of experience writing academic letters of recommendation, I would personally go with your anthropology professor. Not only is she a native speaker, but, seeing as she's an academic, she also has greater insight into what academics would find appealing about an applicant.

[fuzzylogician]

I understand the worry about how a letter from a non-native speaker might look, but unless you have concrete reasons for worrying that the letter could reflect badly on you (and I doubt that, from what you've written it seems that this person is more than qualified to write you a letter) - it's not something you should be worrying about. The contents are going to be what matters, even if there is some grammatical error. However, if this writer has lived and worked in the US for over 20 years, she should be well aware of how formal letters are written so there shouldn't be any glaring grammatical error to begin with. Really, I wouldn't worry about this. Students get letters from non-native speakers and still get accepted all the time. None of my letters were from native speakers, if that helps. What's more, my letters were from European professors who have a different writing style (less compliments, everything is much more subtle), which I would think is a bigger worry. Again, I had no problem whatsoever.

Aside from this issue, I'd suggest that you look into the possibility of having a 4th letter. Look at what departments say - do they ask for "exactly 3 letters" or "at least 3 letters"? Do they say anything about not accepting unsolicited materials? If you're not sure, ask. A fourth letter could only do you good, since it sounds like both of your options above are viable ones.

[fadeindreams]

I had no problems getting into competitive MPP/MPA programs this past cycle using a LOR from a former supervisor I had while I lived and worked in Japan on the JET program.

If they are able to be a good advocate for you, then why would you not use them?