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Letter of Rec from PhD student

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2024 5:46 pm
by jacobmatthews285
I recently did an REU at a research institute in the summer, but the REU project was supervised by a PhD student primarily. They are the ones who can most speak to my research ability. I was told by a committee of professors, present to take questions about grad school, that it would be fine to get letters of recommendation from PhD students supervising the project, but another professor I talked with told me such letters were worthless.

Help would be appreciated. What should I do?

Re: Letter of Rec from PhD student

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:09 am
by AbelianCat
The conventional wisdom is that they are useless because
1) a PhD student is not a good judge of whether someone will be successful in a PhD program
2) the admissions committee is less likely to know who they are

Re: Letter of Rec from PhD student

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2024 2:26 am
by wihjenfc
It is true that letters by PhD students art not convincing enough, unfortunately. Try to have professors or postdocs write you a letter if possible.

Re: Letter of Rec from PhD student

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2024 7:46 am
by jacobmatthews285
(For more info, I’m applying to masters, but I expect similar answers)