Two Questions - Credentials of Recommender(s) and....

[Bkid-Sapps]

First question - Does anyone know if faculty include their credentials when they write a letter? At the very least I would assume they include "Dr." or "PhD" if they're Ph.D but does anyone know if they typically include something like where they may have recieved that PhD? I might be reading too much into this but it seems like adcoms would be interested in knowing a bit more about who exactly is writing a letter for me. In my mind there is a significant difference between having an adjunct prof. with a MA write a letter vs. a tenured faculty member with a PhD from a well-known school. Do adcoms pay that much attention to these kind of details?

Second question - I'm curious what people think of having a prof. write a letter who you've never actually taken a class from? I have two profs. I can turn to for solid recommendations except for the fact that I've never had classes with them. I know them on a personal level, have visited them during office hours, had coffee with them to pick their brains about academics, and they've seen me give presentations on field-related topics. I'm just assuming but I think the bulk of their letters would focus on what they know about me as an individual, my level of motivation, and maybe something about the presentations they've seen from me but I doubt there would be much emphasis on my academic capability. I have profs. I can turn to for letters who can actually comment on my work but I'm not really too close with them and therefore feel like their letters would come across as typical and rather bland. Which option would you run with?

[eklavya]

First answer/opinion - Yes, profs include their credentials. Basically, all/most goes in of their email signature... you might have seen this while receiving emails from your profs. And I do think the adcomm might be interested in knowing the status of the letter writer - assistant/associate/full prof, lecturer, just an RA, boss, etc. They might pay more attention to how long the certain person has been working in his/her field and how renowned their work is rather than giving full emphasis to a letter from a PhD guy vs that from an MA guy. After all, it is about how strong the letter is and how much of an impact the letter can make on the adcomm.

Second answer/opinion - I would not make these profs (with whom you do not have academic relationship with) write letters for me. First of all, they do not know my real potential on succeeding/excelling in grad level programs as they do not know my research potential, leadership skills and other essential attributes. Second, the letters from these profs are not going to be as solid as you'd expect. I mean, they know you and can vouch for you, but there's a limit after all. If they cannot elaborate on your academic as well as social skills (like your own prof would/could), what good are such letters? You can get letters from PIs whom you worked during your internships, or your employers, etc.

[Bkid-Sapps]

Thanks for the comments bhikhaari. I have a few more thoughts/questions.

I looked at emails from a handful of my past profs. and only a few of them had their details at the bottom of the email. And the details they include are "PhD" or "J.D.", the department of which they're affiliated, and then the university where they teach but that's as far as it goes. So my thought process is that as I'm thinking of potential faculty to turn to for LoRs, I might lean more toward profs. with degrees from more recognized schools. As best I can tell I have probably half-a-dozen faculty who could all write solid letters for me so I'm down to these kind of factors to weed out who I want to turn to. But if their degree granting institution won't even be seen by adcoms then it doesn't make much difference. So I'm curious if anyone out there in the land of TheGradCafe has actually seen their LoRs and can comment on what kind of info profs. include. Also (bhikhaari and anyone else who cares to weigh in) do you think adcoms would go so far as to take the time to look up details on LoR-writers? I know this may seem like I'm dwelling on minutiae but in my (admittedly semi-paranoid) mind these factors seem like they should matter.

Thanks for the help!

[eklavya]

The adcomm might not go to great lengths to dig up facts about your LoR writer, because honestly, they don't have that much 'free' time on their hands. What might happen although, is that if you ask a prof who got his graduate degree from the same institution where you are planning to apply, then the name of that particular writer might click to the adcomm. They might be able to say 'Oh, I was in this guy's PhD committee'.. or 'I remember him from that lab, a bright fellow'.. or something similar. People (on gradcafe) have different opinions regarding if or not this kind of letter (written by a prof who went to the same school) will help your admission. I think it slightly helps, because of the familiarity factor, but not my much. It is better if you can make a prof well-known/rising in his/her field write a letter for you. The bottom line is, the writer should clearly explain who you are, why you will do well in graduate program and why that particular school should take you.

And about the university name on prof's signatures... they rarely do that. In fact I haven't seen anyone do that.

[laurend]

Definitely choose someone who can speak to your academic abilities. For my field at least, most important if their knowledge of your lab work and research, next coursework and then your personality etc. I had some people that I worked for in a lab, some that I worked with and took courses with and one that I worked with, took a course with and knew very well (I have babysat his son before.) Hopefully it works out for me that I was able to cover all of those.

[modernity]

LORs go on the institution they work for's letterhead. It will be "Dr." if they are a Dr. THEIR degree granting institution will likely not be listed. Where they got their PhD from is not necessarily as important as where they work now - especially if they are a ways out from their PhD, because top ranking institutions have fluctuated over the years. If the profs are well known, or even remotely known in their field - other professors will know who they are. Almost any prof I've ever had can rattle of lists of professors, schools & professors who work at those schools, etc. in their field that have clout, or regularly attend conferences, etc. etc. If you're worried - ask the professors who you want to write for school recommendations, and as you're doing that work in questions about whether or not they know anyone at those schools that they could recommend as an advisor or something of that nature - that will tell you what the academic relationships are, and who you want to write your letters for you (this could also help you with decisions about what professors you want to write for you).... if for some reason the above does not prove helpful - you want to go with the profs who know your academic abilities over friends - if they only know you as a friendly student - it will reflect as such in the letter, and adcomms will be questioning why you picked your friends over professors that taught you for recommendations.

OH, and in addition - they are sometimes required to fill out a form that asks questions like

"How did this student compare to other students in that class? that you've taught before"

"what were students grades like? the timeliness? the maturity?"

and that will make it even more obvious when they can't answer those questions.

Edited December 7, 2010 by modernity