Letter of rec dilemma? Not psych major...

[cherry12055]

Hello! I am interested in applying to clinical psych phd programs in the fall but the thing that gives me the most anxiety is letters of rec. If I have one good letter of rec from a psych professor with whom I have done several years of research/been in a class with, is it okay if my other recs are from my current work supervisor & also my spanish professor with whom I have a good relationship? 

I've read through a lot of threads and my general understanding is that the letters of rec don't matter that much as long as they aren't bad, but I know that having them be from psych is better. However because I wasn't a psych major, I really only cultivated one strong relationship with a psych professor (the one I did research with). The Spanish professor does have a PhD and can talk about me academically-- so I guess I'm wondering how much at a disadvantage will I be if I only have one rec from a psych professor?

[Guest joshw4288]

3 hours ago, cherry12055 said:

Hello! I am interested in applying to clinical psych phd programs in the fall but the thing that gives me the most anxiety is letters of rec. If I have one good letter of rec from a psych professor with whom I have done several years of research/been in a class with, is it okay if my other recs are from my current work supervisor & also my spanish professor with whom I have a good relationship? 

I've read through a lot of threads and my general understanding is that the letters of rec don't matter that much as long as they aren't bad, but I know that having them be from psych is better. However because I wasn't a psych major, I really only cultivated one strong relationship with a psych professor (the one I did research with). The Spanish professor does have a PhD and can talk about me academically-- so I guess I'm wondering how much at a disadvantage will I be if I only have one rec from a psych professor?

Good question. Certainly having them be from people in your field is ideal. Might you have someone else that can talk about you academically from something closer to psychology? Maybe someone you formed a relationship with in a statistics class, a methods class, any other social science class? Even if they don't know you well, they could speaker to your writing abilities, critical thinking abilities, etc from written work you completed in their class...What is your work? What kind of relevance does it have to the things you want to study? It isn't completely strange to have letters from non-psychologists. I had a historian and a Spanish professor for two of my three. Both were able to speak to useful aspects of my abilities. My interests are in prejudice, intergroup conflict, and the function of social identities. I took a senior level writing course in Race, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the American South with the history professor and I spent 5 months in Spain studying Spanish language and culture with the Spanish professor. Later, when I applied to doctoral programs after my M.A., I had all psychology researchers I had worked with write letters. Masters admissions are obviously less competitive so I am not exactly sure what the effect of having these non psychologist was. If I were reading letters of recommendation from applicants, I would not be put off by letters from non-psychologists so long as they had useful insight into an applicants ability to succeed in the program. Someone outside of academia or the field in general might be a red flag unless you were a non-traditional applicant (i.e, you graduated university many years ago) who had obvious reasons why you wouldn't have three people within academia to ask for letters. 

[cpctc1]

I think it's okay to have your supervisor write a letter. A lot of schools I applied to specifically required at least two letters to be from academic sources (though I don't think they specifically said they had to be psychology professors now that I think about it), but the third letter could either be from a third professor or work supervisor. I would feel uncomfortable submitting two letters from sources outside of the psychology field though. I would try to get a letter from a second psychology professor instead of your Spanish professor if you can. You might think you have only cultivated a strong relationship with one psych professor, but did you take classes with any others? Were any of them perhaps small classes in which you had at least some contact with the professor? Did you take any classes that overlapped with the area of research you are now interested in? If so, did you do well in these classes? If you did well in a psych class, the teacher at least recognizes your name (for positive reasons), and you clearly explain your interests and future plans to them (especially if their interests align with yours), you might be surprised how willing they might be to help. Of course that also depends on their personality and how busy they are, but in a pinch, I think you could get a solid letter from a professor in this way. If that's a possibility just make sure to approach them early, give them as much information as possible (personal statement, CV, description of interests, schools you're applying to and deadlines) -- help them help you. 

Edited May 4, 2016 by cpctc1

[GabGal1224]

From someone who got into a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology this application season (and on my first try), letters of recommendation are VERY important. To be completely honest these programs are terribly compeitive, as I applied to about 10 programs and only got a few offers. That being said, letters of recommendation are a crucial part of your application, and it is very important that they come from professionals in Psychology. My letters of rec came from the Dean of Undergrad Education at my school (who I have also done research for for about 3 years), my research lab supervisor, and a Clinical Psychologist who I did an internship with my senior year of undergrad. All of these individuals have a Ph.D., and I learned that this is important. It is not to say that letters of rec from other areas are bad, but in order to make your application sharp and competitve it would be best if they all came from psychology academics. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[Guest joshw4288]

2 hours ago, GabGal1224 said:

From someone who got into a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology this application season (and on my first try), letters of recommendation are VERY important. To be completely honest these programs are terribly compeitive, as I applied to about 10 programs and only got a few offers. That being said, letters of recommendation are a crucial part of your application, and it is very important that they come from professionals in Psychology. My letters of rec came from the Dean of Undergrad Education at my school (who I have also done research for for about 3 years), my research lab supervisor, and a Clinical Psychologist who I did an internship with my senior year of undergrad. All of these individuals have a Ph.D., and I learned that this is important. It is not to say that letters of rec from other areas are bad, but in order to make your application sharp and competitve it would be best if they all came from psychology academics. Hope this helps, and good luck!

This is obviously the ideal situation, but given the OP's question, it seem like this is not possible. I wonder what you might consider the next best option given the OP's constraints. After all, is a neutral letter from a clinical psychologist better than a glowing letter from a non-psychologist? The latter may not help but the former will most certainly hurt. 

 

Just a side note that my be helpful in thinking about the application process in general and where LOR's fall. The following link, under "Admissions Review" will give you an idea of the relative importance of LOR's to other aspects of the application: http://www.apa.org/education/grad/survey-data/2016-report.aspx. Ultimately, you need to obtain the best LOR's possible given your own constraints in the relationships you have built. My personal opinion is that an LOR from someone who does not really know you well will show and I think this will detract from any name based prestige or background of the writer, assuming that the writer is still in some way relevant to one-on-one client type work, academia, research etc, that a PhD program in Clinical Psych will care about. I also think you have a bit more room for broader scope in your writer selection because a clinical PhD is both an academic degree and a professional degree. How the LOR's are taken will probably also depend on who your person of interest is. Some clinical supervisors in PhD programs are not licensed, do not practice and probably would care more about LOR's demonstrating research and general academic potential than possible clinical ability. Perhaps someone in a clinical program can chime in?

Edited May 4, 2016 by joshw4288