Admissions Asking for letter of recommendation from current professor?

AI Thread Summary
When seeking a letter of recommendation for a PhD program, it's crucial to consider the depth of the relationship with the professor. The student expresses hesitation about asking a professor who is new to them and primarily teaches graduate classes, as he may not be familiar with their overall academic performance beyond recent tests and assignments. While it is important to have a recommender who can provide a personalized and insightful letter, the student is also concerned about the potential for a generic letter from a professor with whom they have a stronger past relationship but less current interaction. The discussion highlights the importance of balancing familiarity with the recommender and the relevance of their knowledge about the student's capabilities and achievements.
mattwags2077
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hey there,

So I am getting my letters of recommendation but unfortunately I am one of those students that is way too shy for my own good. Anyway due to some changes in my school one of the professors who usually only teaches graduate classes is teaching an undergraduate class for me so this is the first semester I have met him or had him.

My question is would it be beneficial or detrimental for me to ask him for a letter? He is the first professor I have had outside of my research that I actually will talk to consistently, but he is not all that familiar with my academic performance outside of a few tests and homework from this semester. I could just ask a professor I received an A in their class, but I am concerned of the cliche letter for professors that don't know the student well.

Any help is appreciated!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You are not saying what you need the letter of recommendation for. This might be a significant piece of information.
 
Orodruin said:
You are not saying what you need the letter of recommendation for. This might be a significant piece of information.
My bad this is for graduate school, applying for PhD
 
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...
I’ve been looking through the curricula of several European theoretical/mathematical physics MSc programs (ETH, Oxford, Cambridge, LMU, ENS Paris, etc), and I’m struck by how little emphasis they place on advanced fundamental courses. Nearly everything seems to be research-adjacent: string theory, quantum field theory, quantum optics, cosmology, soft matter physics, black hole radiation, etc. What I don’t see are the kinds of “second-pass fundamentals” I was hoping for, things like...

Similar threads

Back
Top