I don't have a famous professor to write my rec. letter.

[greenlover45]

I know that people keep saying a letter from a super-star professor will get you in, but what about those that go to school where none of the professors are really the celebrities in their field? 

 

It's kind of unfair if admissions give so much weight on how well-known some letter writers are. 

 

What do you guys think?

[iphi]

It is unfair, no doubt about it. I know that schools will put aside applications to consider who have been recommended by a certain prof. That being said, it IS possible to get in without that. Just as long as your recommendation letters are good and rave about you, that can go farther than a lukewarm message from a famous prof the student barely knows.

[GeoDUDE!]

Who said graduate admissions was meant to be fair, or even wants to be?

 

I think most people over estimate what accomplishments their professors have done. 

 

Here are some examples of "super stars" in my field:

 

http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TF4tdPcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

http://scholar.google.no/citations?hl=en&user=dcaSek8AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

 

 

Notice that both of them have 5 figure citation numbers. These are professors that are known in all of Earth Science (and outside, to some extend) no matter the diversity of subfield. While professors might be famous, the people who wrote my letters have around ~2k citations. They are also much younger than these professors, and they are well known, but I wouldn't classify them as "super" stars.  

 

That being said, if a super star throws his support behind you, why wouldn't an adcom take you? Reputation is worth so much in academia. 

 

You don't need to have superstars write your letters, or even well known professors, just ones who are good researchers who can attest to your abilities.  If a well known professor writes you a letter, chances are the adcom will read it very sparingly because the name matters more than the content. if its an unknown professor, they will read it carefully, because the content matters much more since they are trying to build a baseline.  It's an attribute of the system.

Edited October 24, 2014 by GeoDUDE!

[greenlover45]

I guess you are right, GeoDUDE!. I don't know if it's because that my undergrad is a liberal arts school, but my professors don't do research. Hence, it was hard for me to find RA positions, as well. They are very respectable professors though, but they are just not at all well-known. Whatever. It's really unfair, but I had no idea the name values mattered for admission. Sad, sad. :/

[columbia09]

It helps if your prospective advisor knows the recommender really well too.

[Applemiu]

I guess you are right, GeoDUDE!. I don't know if it's because that my undergrad is a liberal arts school, but my professors don't do research. Hence, it was hard for me to find RA positions, as well. They are very respectable professors though, but they are just not at all well-known. Whatever. It's really unfair, but I had no idea the name values mattered for admission. Sad, sad. :/

 

I believe that you have a chance even without a famous name on the letter of recommendation. The most important things are FIT and honesty. In your statement, show that you have read carefully the papers of the professors you would like to work with, and try to extend their research in a novel direction.