Does it matter who you ask when it comes to letters of recommendation?

Question

Can I get a professor who taught a class I took called "Asian-American Literature" write me a recommendation letter for an MA in Film and Media Theory? Those subjects are soooo unrelated but I like that professor and I'm certain she'll write me a good one. What do you think?

Answer 1

In getting letters for a grad program, you should first turn to professors in that particular field (in this case, Film) with whom you studied.

However, most grad programs require three letters. If the third letter is from someone outside of the field, that would not be a problem at all.

And as a matter of fact, the skills you should have mastered in Asian-American lit (close reading, historical contextualization, literary criticism, critical thinking, etc.) are precisely the same skills that the admissions committee for your chosen MA program will be looking for.

Go for it!

Answer 2

Yea it's unrelated so it should only be your second choice. If you can get a Film professor to write a letter tat's best. But don't forget what you want the professor to write about -- your personality? Your academic ability? Your social interaction? Depending on which is more important you might have to choose the writer accordingly. But in general an aspiring architecture-phD should get an architecture professor to write, an aspiring music-phD should get a music professor and so on.

Answer 3

Letters of recommendation should come from individuals who know you fairly well and can vouch for you as a person, student, etc. If the professor from your AAL class can speak of your abilities as a student, consider her as a person to write your letter. If it is just a class you did well in, but the professor did not interact with you much/often, maybe consider someone else.

Answer 4

i think...(from experience..) that you should get teachers who like you to write your recomendation letters.. because it doesnt matter what subject it was in, if they say your a hardworking student and stuff, thats what the people are looking for.. not for someone who is talking about the thing you wanna do! :D