Letter of recommendation from professors who know you but haven't taught you

[sudhirch26]

Hi. I am currently in St. Stephen's College Delhi and pursuing B.Sc, in Physical Sciences. I will be applying to Sciences PO for MA in International Security. I am confused regarding letter of recommendation. I have worked in various clubs in our college like the social service league and the students' union society which were headed by the professors of our college. These professors know me very well and i believe that they can provide better recommendation. One of these professor is head of department of political science. will their recommendations matter?

[peterangelo]

The idea behind these letters of rec is that these people, given their stature and understanding of the field, can vouch for you as a worthwhile candidate for your program. That generally implies they've worked with you extensively, taught you, etc., but that isn't always the case. On your part you want the strongest, most convincing letters possible. So if you've done enough work with people who haven't been your teachers, but you still feel they know enough about you to write the most convincing letter of rec, then it seems like a good option. Now of course this is all my opinion, but it's based on several years of experience gaining knowledge myself of the process, and even though my field is different (I'm humanities/literature) I believe the concepts are shared. Hopefully more people respond to your post so that you get the most global idea possible.

 

That being said, another thing that's important to understand is that every program is individual. Application committees are made up of faculty members that are individual human beings with their own preconceived notions of what is good/bad and you just have to hope that your package fits well enough with what they envision as their ideal grad student to get accepted. Again, my gut feeling is that it won't matter as long as the letter can substantially and logically vouch for you being a good fit for your program. 

 

Hope that helps! Good luck to you!

[danieleWrites]

No one says you can't have more letters than the school asks for. If you feel the people who haven't had much to do with you academically have important things to say about your academics, there's no reason why you couldn't have a conversation about a letter. You can ask them if they'd be able to write one and what they might put in it.

[juilletmercredi]

The purpose of a letter of recommendation is to get some people who have worked with you to comment on your suitability for pursuing a program of study.  In an academic program, the adcom wants to know how you will perform in your classes and on scholarship/research, so they want people who can comment on that.  It's not just about "Oh, this person is a good person and seems to be rather diligent."  That's why professors who have supervised you in research or taught you are the best letter writers.  For international security - which may be more of a hybrid academic/professional program - professional recommenders are more appropriate, but professors who supervised you in clubs may or may not be appropriate.

 

-How involved were you in the club?  Very, very involved?  To the point that it was almost an extra class and the professors got to see a lot of you?  Then I think it's okay.  If it was just a casual involvement, it's probably not a good letter.  Most faculty advisors I know aren't super involved with the clubs they advise.

-Is the purpose of the club close to the mission of the program that you're going to?  For example, the faculty advisor of the student government could potentially be a good recommender for a public policy program, but not necessarily a human nutrition program.

-Did you have any significant accomplishments that your recommender could comment on from this activity?

 

Actually, some programs do say that you can't have more letters than they ask for.  And even if they don't explicitly say that, I would not send more than four letters of recommendation.