LoR from a stingy professor?

[aspiringhistorian]

I've always had a very good record in my department, but I recently had a professor for an advanced 300-level seminar who refuses to give anything above a 3.0 in his classes as a general rule. (He considers a 2.7 to be a 'solid grade') He and I got along great, he respects my work, and he actually and surprisingly gave me above that grade (3.3), but I usually have a 3.7/4.0 in the department. I know that he really supports me, so I've been thinking about asking him about writing a letter so that he could maybe explain why the grade is so seemingly low in comparison to the rest of my record, but I'm not sure. I've always assumed that graduate schools want to see stellar letters and I feel as though a committee would be confused by why he would write me a letter without having given me an excellent grade. However, not having him write the letter would not allow the committee to understand his grading policy and why I have that grade... Advice?

[fuzzylogician]

The letter should be about your work, not about your grade. The grade matters much less than the prof's opinion of your research. If you think you impressed him and he will write you a strong letter, go ahead and ask him. He may spend some ink on his grading policy--especially if the grade you got is high for his class--but it's actually much more important that he emphasize your research skills and your potential to succeed in a grad program, regardless of your grades. Grades aren't going to be what gets you into a good program anyway. It's all about research skills and fit with each program.