LOR from Grad Instructor

[LibApp10]

First post, yay!

I'm taking some extra college courses to compensate for a weak college GPA (2.99, wish I could round up) and show that I can do the work in an MA/IR program somewhere. My instructor is a grad student, so if I asked them for an LOR would that hurt my application? I understand that for a PhD you want to go with high-profile professors for LORs, but what about for a masters? I don't plan on applying to the top tier (HKS, WWS, Fletcher, etc) so perhaps other schools are more flexible.

Thanks and I look forward to sharing our hopes/fears/freakouts together.

[eucalyptus]

First post, yay!

I'm taking some extra college courses to compensate for a weak college GPA (2.99, wish I could round up) and show that I can do the work in an MA/IR program somewhere. My instructor is a grad student, so if I asked them for an LOR would that hurt my application? I understand that for a PhD you want to go with high-profile professors for LORs, but what about for a masters? I don't plan on applying to the top tier (HKS, WWS, Fletcher, etc) so perhaps other schools are more flexible.

Thanks and I look forward to sharing our hopes/fears/freakouts together.

In general you want to make sure that the person writing your letter has the credential you're going for. In this case, if the grad student in question has a Masters degree or is past the first 2-3 years of their PhD program, they pretty much have the Masters you're going for, so it's fair game.

[jenyoung]

In general you want to make sure that the person writing your letter has the credential you're going for. In this case, if the grad student in question has a Masters degree or is past the first 2-3 years of their PhD program, they pretty much have the Masters you're going for, so it's fair game.

Out of a pool of 5-6 people writing LORs for my 6 schools I am applying to, 2 are graduate students. This is because I know that they can speak to my strengths, and both of them have had me in their classes more than once - which is more than I can say for anyone else. I don't think this should be a problem for you. You will in general need more than one LOR per school, right? So it becomes a mix. I'd recommend calling the schools you are applying to, and seeing what they have to say. Back before I asked anyone to write mine, that is what I did, because I had the same fears you did.

I hope this helps!