Unorthodox Recommender

[ub3rmensch]

I am applying to MA programs in IR and was wondering if I could use a phD student whom I worked under in a science lab. He has now gained his doctorate and is a postdoctoral fellow at HMS (obviously not where I went). The reason I want him as my recommender is because he knows me well (worked with him almost everyday for 2 years), whereas the professor who led the lab was almost never to be seen. Is this doable? 

[TakeruK]

Depending on your other letters, this may be okay (i.e. you won't get automatically rejected because of it).

It won't be as strong of a letter as another choice. However, in this case, there is a potential other option. You could ask the (former) grad student to write the letter and have your former professor sign and submit it. It's pretty common in the sciences for undergraduates to work in a professor's group/lab but actually spend most of their time interacting with a PhD student, postdoc or staff scientist. These people would know your work best but the letter would have more impact coming from the professor.

So, in your case, I would recommend emailing both your professor and the former PhD student and let them know that you are applying for this program and that you would like to get a reference letter for your work in Professor X's lab with PhD Student Y. 

The two of them will probably figure out what they want to do. Some options are for the student to write the whole thing and the professor just signs off on it. Or, perhaps after you finished with the lab, the student actually wrote a whole report on you to submit to the professor. The professor may just use this report as the basis for your letter. Last summer, I supervised an undergraduate student and I did this because I knew that a letter from the prof would benefit the student much more than anything I can write. 

Personally, I find it a little awkward to just ask outright for the prof to sign off on a letter that the (former) student writes, so I would choose to start with an email to both of them asking for a letter for your work and seeing what happens next. Things will likely just fall into place, but if the prof just wants the former student to write and sign the letter, then I guess there really isn't that much you can do (since demanding that the prof sign the letter may not be the best idea).

[pubpol101]

TakeruK covered this pretty well.

Also, however, MA programs in IR are very professionally oriented. Though the letter would count as one from a work supervisor, be careful with the content of the letter. Your work at the lab may not seem to be particularly relevant to your MA studies. Make sure your reference can speak for your motivations and capabilities with regards to IR, not STEM that is only tangentially tied to what you want to study. If you have any other supervisor that is more closely tied to the IR field, you may want to use him/her instead. 

[ub3rmensch]

11 hours ago, AAAAAAAA said:

TakeruK covered this pretty well.

Also, however, MA programs in IR are very professionally oriented. Though the letter would count as one from a work supervisor, be careful with the content of the letter. Your work at the lab may not seem to be particularly relevant to your MA studies. Make sure your reference can speak for your motivations and capabilities with regards to IR, not STEM that is only tangentially tied to what you want to study. If you have any other supervisor that is more closely tied to the IR field, you may want to use him/her instead. 

Sorry I was not clear, I am planning on using this person as an academic reference. Besides this person (or maybe thru the professor who led the lab) my options are close to none. Though it is lab work, I did gain credit for it and it shows up in my transcript as a class (2 actually). On the IR academic side, I only have one other option and that is using my online microeconomics professor, which seems like a bad idea. These are the two options for my academic references. My other two recommenders will be Peace Corps staff. Should I heed TakeruK's advice?

Edited August 11, 2016 by ub3rmensch

[fuzzylogician]

If you do plan to use this person, I'd do it the way TakeruK suggests. Since you say you don't have other good options, that seems to be the way to go, regardless of whether or not it's ideal. 

[coasts]

I wasn't close to any of my professors in college so I faced a similar dilemma. Most schools I talked to said they didn't mind if all of my reccs were professional, even if their website said they preferred at least one academic. However, I'd been out of school for quite a number of years (six). A couple schools wouldn't budge and so in those cases, I used a TA from a class I did well in. One school (Chicago) required a professor so I just went out on a limb and contacted a prof whose class I had done well in, even though he didn't know me at all, and he agreed to do it. So I'd say rather than guessing, just email schools' admissions offices and ask!

[WhatAmIDoingNow]

On 8/10/2016 at 5:05 AM, ub3rmensch said:

I am applying to MA programs in IR and was wondering if I could use a phD student whom I worked under in a science lab. He has now gained his doctorate and is a postdoctoral fellow at HMS (obviously not where I went). The reason I want him as my recommender is because he knows me well (worked with him almost everyday for 2 years), whereas the professor who led the lab was almost never to be seen. Is this doable? 

I would still try for the professor, even if you have to write the recommendation for the prof to sign. The position of prof is important.