The Elusive Letter of Recommendation

[YoungFoucault]

I wanted to make this topic thread to start a conversation about different strategies for and questions about letters of recommendation.

 

My question about this is concerning whether a letter from a visiting European Philosopher (fairly well-known in her field) is weaker than/equal to/stronger than a letter from an American tenured faculty member when applying to American programs. I know that in almost all cases a letter from a TT professor is going to carry a lot more weight then a non-TT professor but might this be a circumstance in which the pros might outweigh the cons? Thoughts?

[overoverover]

Lots of factor play into this. 

1) Would her letter be as positive as the tenured American?

2) Are you applying to programs in which she's known?

3) Did you carry out substantial work in her class?

I don't think it really matters if she's TT or not-TT, what matters is if  she can say good things about you and her opinion will mean something to those who read her letter. 

Personally, I have two tenured professors and a TT professor as my letters, but that's just because they're the professors who best know my work.

[dgswaim]

Lots of factor play into this. 

1) Would her letter be as positive as the tenured American?

2) Are you applying to programs in which she's known?

3) Did you carry out substantial work in her class?

I don't think it really matters if she's TT or not-TT, what matters is if  she can say good things about you and her opinion will mean something to those who read her letter. 

Personally, I have two tenured professors and a TT professor as my letters, but that's just because they're the professors who best know my work.

Yeah. Go with the people that know you best. Ultimately what you want is to have letter writers that can speak at length about the quality of your work in such a way that it sounds like they really know your work and your abilities. 

[overoverover]

Well, I do think it's appropriate to also consider the reputation of the letter writers. But that is mostly secondary. Figure out who can write you the best letters and, if you have more than 3 professors in mind, start considering who might be better based on reputation. 

[MorganFreemanlives]

Well, I do think it's appropriate to also consider the reputation of the letter writers. But that is mostly secondary. Figure out who can write you the best letters and, if you have more than 3 professors in mind, start considering who might be better based on reputation. 

i think distribution is more important regarding the reputation of TT vs non TT.  2  letters from TT and 1 non TT faculty who knows you well vs 3 TT prob woudnt make a difference but 1 TT vs 1 non TT might make a bigger difference. a good ratio will prob liquify the disadvantage, if any that was initially present, assuming a respectable amount of classes and familiarity remain equal.

[fuzzylogician]

i think distribution is more important regarding the reputation of TT vs non TT.  2  letters from TT and 1 non TT faculty who knows you well vs 3 TT prob woudnt make a difference but 1 TT vs 1 non TT might make a bigger difference. a good ratio will prob liquify the disadvantage, if any that was initially present, assuming a respectable amount of classes and familiarity remain equal.

 

It's not really about TT vs. non-TT but other factors that tend to correlate with that. People put more trust in letters from people who they know, and who have successfully trained graduate students in the past and therefore have a good idea of what it takes for an applicant to be successful. They trust letters from people whose names they have seen in the past, even if they haven't met them in person, if they have recommended other students in previous application cycles who turned out to be successful. And they tend to trust people from well known universities more than people from obscure universities they've never heard of, because a better department usually employs better faculty and has better students. These things tend to correlate with a person's experience at being a professor; and that normally correlates with being TT or tenured, as opposed to non-TT, because non-TT people just don't tend to be around for that long. 

 

That said, the most important criterion is the content of the letter, not the signature at the bottom. If the letter won't be strong, it's only the rarest superstar who'd be worth the sacrifice over a good detailed letter from a less known professor.

[MorganFreemanlives]

It's not really about TT vs. non-TT but other factors that tend to correlate with that. People put more trust in letters from people who they know, and who have successfully trained graduate students in the past and therefore have a good idea of what it takes for an applicant to be successful. They trust letters from people whose names they have seen in the past, even if they haven't met them in person, if they have recommended other students in previous application cycles who turned out to be successful. And they tend to trust people from well known universities more than people from obscure universities they've never heard of, because a better department usually employs better faculty and has better students. These things tend to correlate with a person's experience at being a professor; and that normally correlates with being TT or tenured, as opposed to non-TT, because non-TT people just don't tend to be around for that long. 

 

That said, the most important criterion is the content of the letter, not the signature at the bottom. If the letter won't be strong, it's only the rarest superstar who'd be worth the sacrifice over a good detailed letter from a less known professor.

yes, im not disagreeing with you but non TT is not just adjuncts, lecturers can actually have their own advantages as letter writers. lecturers usually teaching 4-5 classes a semester and often have lots of office hours, so this can easily translate to a letter writer whom you have taken for 5+ classes and possibly countless hours of conversation and them knowing your work and abilities. that  can be equal if not superior to a TT faculty who is rarely around and were only able to take 2 classes with since he has such light course load.

 

yes, its the content of the letter thats most relevant.

[PedagogodeLiberacion]

In a similar vein to YoungFoucault's question, I was wondering what anybody thinks about whether a letter from a very distinguished professor in a field that is not strictly related to my interests is better than a professor who is well-known within my field of interest? With regards to who can write a better letter, I believe I have had sufficient contact with both and have a very good relationship with both.

[overoverover]

In a similar vein to YoungFoucault's question, I was wondering what anybody thinks about whether a letter from a very distinguished professor in a field that is not strictly related to my interests is better than a professor who is well-known within my field of interest? With regards to who can write a better letter, I believe I have had sufficient contact with both and have a very good relationship with both.

It's hard to tell from your description. But here's one thing I've been told a few times: your letter-writers don't have to be in your areas of interest, and in fact only having letter-writers in your areas can indicate that you overspecialized and don't have a strong, general philosophical background. 

[PedagogodeLiberacion]

It's hard to tell from your description. But here's one thing I've been told a few times: your letter-writers don't have to be in your areas of interest, and in fact only having letter-writers in your areas can indicate that you overspecialized and don't have a strong, general philosophical background. 

That's what I thought. I felt that having a good variety of letter-writers from different philosophical areas would be better because it would showcase your overall abilities in philosophy and not just limited to a specific area. Thanks for the input!

[overoverover]

Here's a question (sorry if I'm jacking the thread): I may have a letter-writer from mathematics willing to write me a letter (he's indicated to a professor of mine that he'd be willing, but I haven't asked). He's a very 'philosophical' mathematician, by which I mean he's co-authored some formal philosophical work and his courses are regularly cross-listed. But I've been told by a lot of people that a letter from outside of philosophy is a bad thing—does this perhaps constitute an exception?

[MorganFreemanlives]

Here's a question (sorry if I'm jacking the thread): I may have a letter-writer from mathematics willing to write me a letter (he's indicated to a professor of mine that he'd be willing, but I haven't asked). He's a very 'philosophical' mathematician, by which I mean he's co-authored some formal philosophical work and his courses are regularly cross-listed. But I've been told by a lot of people that a letter from outside of philosophy is a bad thing—does this perhaps constitute an exception?

i think that' completely fine, advantageous even

[philstudent1991]

Here's a question (sorry if I'm jacking the thread): I may have a letter-writer from mathematics willing to write me a letter (he's indicated to a professor of mine that he'd be willing, but I haven't asked). He's a very 'philosophical' mathematician, by which I mean he's co-authored some formal philosophical work and his courses are regularly cross-listed. But I've been told by a lot of people that a letter from outside of philosophy is a bad thing—does this perhaps constitute an exception?

people are right to tell you that letters from outside of philosophy are not helpful. That said, this sounds like it is not wholly outside of philosophy. So if you really think he will write a good letter, and of course you have other letters from more traditional philosophers, I say why not

[NathanKellen]

Here's a question (sorry if I'm jacking the thread): I may have a letter-writer from mathematics willing to write me a letter (he's indicated to a professor of mine that he'd be willing, but I haven't asked). He's a very 'philosophical' mathematician, by which I mean he's co-authored some formal philosophical work and his courses are regularly cross-listed. But I've been told by a lot of people that a letter from outside of philosophy is a bad thing—does this perhaps constitute an exception?

It really depends on who it is, what programs you're applying to, etc. Having a well known mathematician as a letter writer for a program like UConn might help you (depending on who is on the admission committee). Personally I'd suggest having three philosophers and for those schools who allow a fourth letter, having that mathematician.

[overoverover]

Thanks, everyone, for the input. 

 

It really depends on who it is, what programs you're applying to, etc. Having a well known mathematician as a letter writer for a program like UConn might help you (depending on who is on the admission committee). Personally I'd suggest having three philosophers and for those schools who allow a fourth letter, having that mathematician.

I think this will be what I end up doing. I have three philosophers writing, and so I'll use his letter as a supplement.