Need advice, will one bad comment hurt my application?

[arrxing]

Hi everyone,

 

I am planning on applying for PhD programs in bioengineering this year. I asked my research PI for a letter of recommendation. When I asked how positive the letter would be and he said that he thinks I am a good scientist etc., but he is bothered by the fact that I left the lab abruptly and that he will mention it in the letter, although he will focus more on my ability to do well in grad school. 

 

The reason I left was I got into a summer research program that put me into a different lab for the summer. I decided that I liked the new lab environment better so I ended up staying in the new lab. While I understand his frustration, I am afraid it will reflect poorly on me.

 

I was wondering if anyone knows how badly this might hurt my application. I expect my two other recommendations to be strong, but my GPA and GRE are not amazing so I was counting on 3 really strong letters to boost my application.

 

I have one back up letter writer, the advisor for my major (who is a professor) and who I took one class with and recieved an A. I have known her since the beginning of my freshman year, but I probably only talked to her a few times a year.  I have also heard that not getting a letter from a PI you did research with is a bad sign to most grad schools. Would you advise that I choose my PI or my back up?

[TakeruK]

I'd go with your research PI and explain why you left the lab in your SOP. I agree that it won't be great to have, however, I think having the reason be clear (and allow you to present "your side" in your SOP) is far better than having the admission committee noticing you are missing a letter from a PI and potentially assuming/thinking up worse reasons than the truth!

[xolo]

Can you not talk to the PI and ask him to supply the rational in his letter? I wouldn't want that discussion wasting space in my SOP. I guess this depends on your relationship with the PI but it can be spun into a positive, "so and so left because he received multiple offers due to his hard work and one offer came in late that really fit him perfectly" There's no need for sour grapes!

[TakeruK]

Can you not talk to the PI and ask him to supply the rational in his letter? I wouldn't want that discussion wasting space in my SOP. I guess this depends on your relationship with the PI but it can be spun into a positive, "so and so left because he received multiple offers due to his hard work and one offer came in late that really fit him perfectly" There's no need for sour grapes!

 

This is a good point too! To clarify, including the rationale in your SOP would not necessarily take up a lot of space. My SOP was a narrative of my research experience, which naturally requires transition sentences to show how I moved from one project/lab to another. So this transition from one lab to another due to the summer research opportunity only needs to be 1 sentence (and even if you moved from one lab to another "naturally", you would have one sentence to signal to the reader that you're now going to discuss your experience at the next lab now anyways).

[Paraliminal]

I think it will be better to ask him directly the following question: 

 

Can you a strong letter of recommendation for me which can support my application?

 

Check his answer and decide accordingly!

 

Good Luck

[kurumi2117]

I would not include a letter with anything negative in it. I agree with previous posts; ask him if he can supply the rationale in the letter. If he says no, I would ask someone else.