Weak LoR - How much will it matter?

[harriyu]

I immigrated to the US last year but before leaving, I had a one-on-one discussion of my intention to apply to graduate school with the Dean and the HoD (individually), in order to get an affirmation that they would both write me letters when needed.

I have As in the courses and class projects that the Dean oversaw. On the other hand, I have Bs in the courses taught by the HoD but he acted as an informal mentor and panelled my thesis presentation, which I had an A in, so he is familiar with my competence in research.

Now that I've started my application process, when I reached out to the HoD, he immediately and enthusiastically agreed.

The Dean, however, was sceptical of my transition to another field instead of pursuing my undergrad field (I have a Bachelors degree in Economics and am applying for PhD in Organisational Behaviour). He advised me to apply for Economics in a list of schools he thinks are a good fit, and said that only then he would write me a letter. Which I personally think is ridiculous because my choice of program, especially one so closely related to economics, should not be a matter of concern to him. I tried to assure him that I would employ whatever I learned during undergrad and all he needed to do was vouch for my performance in research and competence the subjects he taught. I've had no response since. I would also like to add that one of the subjects he taught in is Econometrics, fundamental to research.

Now the deadline is looming ever closer and it's seeming more and more likely that I'll have to give up on the idea of getting a recommendation from the Dean.

Should I continue to pester the Dean, who might write me a biased letter, if at all, or should I go with the HoD's letter which will be fair but weaker due to my average performance in his classes? If I go with the HoD, how can I mask my grade to strengthen my letter (I am assisting in drafting the letter so I have some control over what to highlight)?

Edited November 28, 2017 by harriyu

[TakeruK]

1. If the Dean doesn't want to write you a letter for programs outside of Economics, then don't ask him for a letter to any non-Economics programs. If you happen to also apply to a few Economics programs, then ask him for those letters.

2. Yes, it's your choice on what programs you apply to but the Dean might not feel comfortable writing to support your application to Organisational Behaviour if they only know about your abilities in Economics. I think if you ask the Dean for letters to non-Economics programs, they might eventually agree and just discuss your Economics coursework, but this won't help you much. Letter prompts sometimes ask things to the effect of "how will this student succeed in our program" and for someone outside of the field, it is tough for them to give a good answer.

3. So, given your current exchange with the Dean, I think your instinct to give up on this letter is right. You're not going to get a good letter from them.

4. I don't know for sure what HoD is (Head of Department, I'm guessing??) but they sound like a better letter writer than your Dean. I think you should ask your HoD to emphasize your research in the letter, since they were on your thesis panel. If you have Bs in the classes, then the best thing to do is for your letter writer to not even mention your classes at all. Letters often only discuss the strengths so a good letter writer would just not discuss classes if your coursework wasn't in the top few.

5. I am also guessing that your programs need more than one LOR and this LOR isn't your main letter right? For example, you should have a very good one from your research mentor. If this LOR is your 3rd letter and you have two other research-based letter, then you don't really have to worry so much about a third letter being a little weaker. Few people have three super strong letters.

6. Finally, I think there may be some cultural differences with the education system at your undergrad school and US schools.

a ) For instance, it's very uncommon for US schools to have the students participate in writing the letter. LORs are expected to be confidential and written by the prof only. I'm not going to go and tell your faculty members what to do, but keep this in mind. In combination with phrases like "how can I mask my grade", it sounds very much like you are trying to do something unethical and "trick" the admissions committee. I don't think you are and I'm happy to give you the benefit of the doubt and say this was just a poor choice of words. But be careful.

b ) Also, like I said above, the LOR in the United States isn't a neutral and objective evaluation of the candidate. In some other countries, especially European ones, the letter is often impersonal and restrained. But in North America, the letter is expected to be an enthusiastic endorsement. Sometimes, letters coming from European or other schools sound a lot less positive compared to the US letters. Most admissions committees know to expect these cultural differences and try to adjust for them. But it's hard to calibrate. So, I think it would be a good idea to talk about this with your letter writer if they are not from North America. For a good guide, read this and other guides: https://theprofessorisin.com/2016/09/07/how-to-write-a-recommendation-letter/

[harriyu]

18 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Thanks for your response! I appreciate it.

Yes, hopefully, my other letters will make up for this one in case the Head of Department (HoD) is lukewarm in his recommendation. 

6. Finally, I think there may be some cultural differences with the education system at your undergrad school and US schools.

a ) For instance, it's very uncommon for US schools to have the students participate in writing the letter. LORs are expected to be confidential and written by the prof only. I'm not going to go and tell your faculty members what to do, but keep this in mind. In combination with phrases like "how can I mask my grade", it sounds very much like you are trying to do something unethical and "trick" the admissions committee. I don't think you are and I'm happy to give you the benefit of the doubt and say this was just a poor choice of words. But be careful.

I appreciate you giving me "the benefit of the doubt", but I don't believe it's unethical to highlight my good points - pretty much the whole point of the app is to do so - especially considering they have my transcripts so I can't literally "mask" my grades. What should I be careful about?

Also, I have a couple of friends in very esteemed US universities applying to grad school who've aided their references in writing their letters. It's more like creating the bare bones of a letter (a bit like an explanatory CV) and any value judgements are left up to the reference. Perhaps, it's also a university thing?

 

Edited November 29, 2017 by harriyu

[TakeruK]

@harriyu: It's definitely not unethical to highlight your good points. In fact, what I wrote in 6b and the link there basically says that your letter should only say positive things and ignore negative things. Every statement in the letter should be a positive one.

But this is the not the same as lying about the bad points. When I read the word "mask", it has negative connotations misrepresenting your grades or something.

When you said "assist with drafting the letter", it sounded like you were going to write the first draft of the letter. However, what you said here about providing notes on what your letter writer might like to say is definitely normal. Nothing wrong with that either.

So perhaps just a misunderstanding on my part of these phrases.

[Sigaba]

On 11/27/2017 at 10:00 PM, harriyu said:

Which I personally think is ridiculous because my choice of program, especially one so closely related to economics, should not be a matter of concern to him?