Letters of Rec Question

[beaker224]

Hi all!

I am a senior in college and applying to cell/molec programs this season and having a bit of trouble organizing my recs. My first one is a given - the professor I've done research with since sophomore year. My second will be my PI from an REU Program I was in last summer. However, he was away for 1 of the 2 months I was there and I worked much more closely with his grad students. Hopefully, he can still write me a strong letter (and he did write me a letter for a scholarship i applied for this past school year) based on what he did see of me and what the grad students would have relayed to him, but he won't know as much about me personally. For my third rec, I'm torn between 2 profs from my undergrad institution who both know me well personally and have had me in class. I am leaning slightly more towards one over the other, but when I mentioned the situation it to my PI for advice, she said that it might be possible to send both for a total of 4 letters - especially since my 2nd recommender will not have as strong of a personal connection to me and I only worked in his lab for 2 months over a year ago, while the 2 profs know me very well and have had much more consistent contact with me. The websites for the schools I'm planning on applying to all say 3 recs and from what I've heard (I haven't started any of the apps yet), it sounds like everything is entered online and prompts are sent via email so I'm assuming they may have only 3 slots to enter recommenders. So basically, my question is: Is it possible to send 4 letters of rec or would that be frowned upon by the admissions committee??

Thanks in advance for any input!! =)

[Eigen]

I sent 4 letters to one of my universities.... It didn't seem to upset the adcoms. If it's a letter that helps your application, I see no reason not to send it.

[Genomic Repairman]

You can send four LORs, but they are not obligated to read all four but they probably will. Most AdComms are looking for lab experience from PI's, so those are way more important than someone that taught you for a semester.

[UnlikelyGrad]

You can send four LORs, but they are not obligated to read all four but they probably will. Most AdComms are looking for lab experience from PI's, so those are way more important than someone that taught you for a semester.

Exactly what I would have said. The letter from your PI will be worth twice as much as the other two (or three) letters combined. An additional reference from a class professor won't add much at all.