Reccommender not sure if he's the best guy for the job, but I think otherwise? What to do? Time sensitive, please help!

[occidorient]

I reached out to my old undergraduate thesis adviser a couple weeks ago to verify if he had time and interest in writing a recommendation letter for me and grad apps. I hadn't heard back and thus followed up yesterday to see if this was something he could help me out with. He apologized for the delayed reply as he's working on a book, and also alerted me to the following:

 

-he's now retired, having left my UG institution one year after I graduated and then taught at another institution for a year before retiring to focus on writing. He wonders if he's the best person to write this letter then as he is currently without a teaching post.

 

-my undergraduate major from a liberal arts school is different from my intended graduate study (UG: asian studies, grad: intl development) and this professor is much more of an Asian studies kind of guy. As he's thus not close to my intended field of study, he again wonders if he's the best person to write this letter.

 

My logic is that I won't be able to find a professor who is close to my intended field of study anyway. I thought the goal was just to identify someone who could speak to your academic ability as a student, in which case I can't think of anyone else to ask, as this guy worked closely with my on my thesis and I did well on the project. As for his not having a teaching post currently, does this matter that much?

 

I can see how his concerns could be more relevant to doctorate degree applications and/or more "academic" style MAs, but I'm applying to more professional style programs in IR, and my guess is that these programs want to get a sense of academic ability more generally? Any quick insight would me much appreciated, as I otherwise need to identify an alternative professor for recommendations. Other recs are good to go.

[fuzzylogician]

It's hard to judge tones in emails but I would be concerned that this professor is trying to gently tell you that he can't write a strong letter for you, and is trying to have you find someone to write a stronger letter, if you have that option. If the main concerns are really his affiliation and research expertise, I think you don't need to worry too much. A strong letter is a strong letter. It'd obviously be better to have a strong letter from someone who the adcom knows and trusts, but this is still an experienced professor who would be able to give an informed opinion of your research abilities, so a good letter from him is not a bad thing to have. But if this is a polite way of saying that it won't be a strong letter or that he doesn't want to do it, then you might as well get a ok letter from someone who is at least better known to the adcoms and has more relevant research and/or affiliation

[occidorient]

Thanks for your reply, fuzzylogician. Right, I get the sense that he's not necessarily up for writing the letter. He says he'd be happy to write a strong letter, but then offers the aforementioned considerations. It's difficult to read his tone. I'm confident that if I asked politely, he would submit a strong letter, but to the extent he's feels less confident about it or is busy with other things, then I also don't want to push him. It's just tough because he's been happy to serve as a reference and recommender in the past when applying for fellowships or jobs etc.

 

Coming from a small LAC on the west coast with a liberal arts degree in regional studies and applying to big-name IA schools mostly on the east coast leaves me feeling that any academic/UG recommendation I submit from my UG career won't really be well known to adcoms in any case. I can definitely think of a few other professors who would be happy to write a letter, but they similarly would not be proximate to my intended field of study.

 

I'd like to maybe try to politely inform the desired recommender that I think there wouldn't be any issues with him writing the letter, but that if he is busy or timing is short or he doesn't feel confident writing it, then I'd completely understand. At that point I would follow up with other professors. I'm just concerned as deadlines are within the 6-8 week from now range, so timing is getting tight.

[occidorient]

Thanks for your reply, fuzzylogician. Right, I get the sense that he's not necessarily up for writing the letter. He says he'd be happy to write a strong letter, but then offers the aforementioned considerations. It's difficult to read his tone. I'm confident that if I asked politely, he would submit a strong letter, but to the extent he's feels less confident about it or is busy with other things, then I also don't want to push him. It's just tough because he's been happy to serve as a reference and recommender in the past when applying for fellowships or jobs etc.

 

Coming from a small LAC on the west coast with a liberal arts degree in regional studies and applying to big-name IA schools mostly on the east coast leaves me feeling that any academic/UG recommendation I submit from my UG career won't really be well known to adcoms in any case. I can definitely think of a few other professors who would be happy to write a letter, but they similarly would not be proximate to my intended field of study.

 

I'd like to maybe try to politely inform the desired recommender that I think there wouldn't be any issues with him writing the letter, but that if he is busy or timing is short or he doesn't feel confident writing it, then I'd completely understand. At that point I would follow up with other professors. I'm just concerned as deadlines are within the 6-8 week from now range, so timing is getting tight.