Letter of Reference

ilikedrit
Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:59:10 +0000

How the hell do so many of you guys know professors who coincidentally have connections with other professors at the same exact schools you apply to? That’s so improbable. I’ve researched all of the professors I’ve taken, and none of them have any connections with any of the professors at the schools I am applying to. There can only be so many connections in this world. It’s almost as if you applied to a specific undergrad to take classes with specific professors and kissed their ***es just to get into a specific graduate school.



safetypin00:

I think a letter from a grad student isn’t just a neutral add-on, it is a huge negative.



Lol, “huge negative” is pushing it, although I’m guessing that was a joke. Just so we get this clear for anyone who’s worrying about this: letters from graduate students aren’t taken as seriously as letters from professors, but that doesn’t imply they do not have a sufficient amount of weight. Graduate students are only a step away from a professor, have gone through enough of the same work that professors do, and certainly can have sufficient insight on whether one has what it takes to succeed in graduate school. Their opinion is not as authoritative as a professor’s, but it’s enough. They’re not mentally handicapped people for Pete’s sake. ~ This being learned from my interviews with multiple academic departments and advisors.