Top LOR fell through! What to do?

[Becks89]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm hoping you might have a few suggestions to my conundrum. For the last year and a half I've been working as an undergrad research assistant. Everything was going great, until my boss/self appointed "mentor" started to get sloppy in his work. As a result of that the whole research team started having trouble with meeting deadlines and getting the overall work done. At the end of 2012, we were told that our job was done. In that year and a half I worked as an assistant in 3 different projects, none of which are getting published until mid 2013. My boss basically let me know in a very passive aggressive way (stopped sharing files with me on dropbox, unfriended me on facebook, completely cut communication) that he wants nothing to do with me. He is clearly throwing a temper tantrum, as he did many times while we worked together. But now, I'm left with research and consultation experience and no way to prove it, I have no publications and no LOR. 

My first instinct was to let it go and move on, and focus on the GRE and on getting another publication independently. But I still think my research experience is one of my strongest suits for getting into grad school. I have a 3.0 GPA, I'm taking the GRE on late feb, I'm working on my thesis and application deadlines aren't until december. So should I try to rescue something out of all that work? Should I even put it on my CV? Is it worth anything without proof? I'm totally at a loss on what to do here, would really appreciate some feedback! Thanks! 

[uromastyx]

Of course you can/should put it on your CV. If this person has gone off the deep end don't pursue their LOR; I would be afraid to include it in my application based on their personal and professional conduct. Do you have other options?

 

Good news is this: You have 10 months until applications are due and you know that you need another LOR. Begin the search and develop relationships with this in mind.

 

You will want advice from someone in your field, but I'm not convinced that attempting a publication should be your top priority at this point, or that it is even in your best interests. It is not the easiest thing in the world, and could be 6+ months before your paper is even read. No adcomm cares about "under review."

[Becks89]

Thanks for the feedback. I've actually spoken to one of my teachers, she says I should at least try and speak with my old boss, given that we had a spoken agreement that I would publish with him this year and that he would give me an LOR. I honestly don't want to go down that path, I don't want to approach him, I seems like too much stress and pain that probably wont reap any rewards whatsoever. 

I do have other options for LORs, none of them would emphasize my research experience though. I've been a TA and worked a lot on my school's psychology student's association, so I made a lot of meaningful connections that way. I'm just afraid that my experience won't hold true :/

[margarets]

Still put the work on your CV.  You did it.  If you need to prove it, you have other ways besides publication.  (E.g. old documents or emails or notes.)

 

See if you can get your LoR prospects to mention your capability re: research anyway, to whatever extent they can.

[selecttext]

If other referees are aware of your research experience in another lab, they could mention it in your letter.  

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

No adcomm cares about "under review."

False, in psych, where the review process can be as short as 6 weeks, having an article under review is important. It'll demonstrate that you did something in the lab, and not just coding data.

[uromastyx]

False, in psych, where the review process can be as short as 6 weeks, having an article under review is important. It'll demonstrate that you did something in the lab, and not just coding data.

If it's as short as six weeks then there really isn't any reason for one 'publication' on a CV as "under review."

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

It has a range, where the minimum is six weeks. There's still reason, but I won't debate you on this.

 

You're in a different field from the OP.

[selecttext]

every field has journals that process manuscripts in short order. under review is as bad as in preparation. people write these to beef up their CVs . committee don't takes these seriously. HOWEVER, you could write a manuscript and send it to your POI who might petition harder for you.

Edited February 7, 2013 by selecttext

[Becks89]

Great pointers! I think it might be worth it to try a publication, but I'll worry about that after I'm done with the GRE (2 weeks to go!). Some of the programs I'm applying to clearly state that I shouldn't write "under review" on the CV I send, I has to be accepted. But I wasn't aware that the timetables could be that short. And I hadn't really thought of asking other recommenders to mention my work, thanks for the peace of mind! 

[selecttext]

journals with a short turn around time sometimes have a high rejection rate. it's very unlikely that your article would be accepted to any journal without revisions in 6 weeks. do not forget that your co-authors might also request major revisions before you submit. it's a long process - especially your first time.

I would focus on finding good referees and writing an excellent statement of purpose. 

[Becks89]

The statement of purpose is another matter that I'm a little concerned about, how do I write about all this mess? Do I limit myself to pointing out the good experience and not mention how it ended? What if it comes down to being asked about it on an interview? I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm just completely panicky about this 

[selecttext]

In a section, use your laboratory experience as evidence of your excellent preparation for graduate school but do not mention the supervisor. Have your referees attest to your laboratory abilities in their letters. Make sure to give them a copy of your CV and explain your situation. It would also be very helpful to give them a copy of the manuscript. One thing that puzzles me is if the supervisor has cut off all communications, does he really expect that you will have authorship?

[Becks89]

No authorship whatsoever, that's why this is so frustrating. If I do publish it will be with another professor on another subject. That project went completely down the drain, I'm certain he won't acknowledge the work of the team did during data recollection and codification. 

[Angua]

Your CV can also include a section on "Ongoing Projects" or "Complete Projects" where you can briefly describe the project and exactly what you did.  I disagree that admission's committees don't care about unpublished work.  Certainly, a manuscript that is under review is not a publication, and it won't count as a publication.  But it is still the product of experience in a research setting, and it is still relevant.  You mention that some apps tell you not to include "under review" papers on your CV -- make sure that they actually say not to include them on your CV.  My experience was that some apps told me not to include them in the parts of the application asking about publications, but I never saw one that said they couldn't be on my CV itself.  Again, don't focus on painting them as publications -- present them as projects to which you have significantly contributed.

 

As for the hear of your problem -- were there grad students in the lab when you were doing the work?  Is there someone else you can get to write an LOR about that experience? I agree that it would be best to have someone who can speak about your actual research skills -- maybe this prof isn't the only one who could?  At this point, it seems like having his name on the letter wouldn't be much of a boost, anyway.  Good luck!

[Becks89]

I will look into the whole "under review" process more carefully. It seems like it really changes from program to program. About the other questions, no, there were no grad students working with me, we were a very small team doing a monumental amount of work, 3 advanced undergrad students (including me) and about 4 sophomores who were volunteering for one of the projects. He was the only person in charge, I never even met his boss. 

[doobiebrothers]

The statement of purpose is another matter that I'm a little concerned about, how do I write about all this mess? Do I limit myself to pointing out the good experience and not mention how it ended? What if it comes down to being asked about it on an interview? I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm just completely panicky about this 

I find that committees are incredibly 'risk averse.' The best thing to do is avoid talking about the negative, and focus on th positive, but that may just be my experience on one committee. hope this helps. PM me with any questions!

[LastGradStanding]

Did you speak to your bosses boss about it?