There is a lot of controversy regarding recommendations from faculty members and whether they are harmful or not; For that reason, as I am working on my college applications, I had a question.
Last year, I got in touch with a professor at Brown University who was interested in my work in entrepreneurship. I got an opportunity to work in Brown University this summer with him on a research paper (which I designed, conducted, and researched while he provided feedback). He liked my work a lot and allowed me to help him with another research paper he was working on in which I added substantial contributions. Additionally, I worked with him on creating a database for his undergrad students and helped create some course content for the classes he teaches.
The professor has been teaching at Brown for over 50 years, has an award in the school named after him, and has a building named after him as well. He is considered one of the most respected teachers in the entire university. He offered to write me a letter of recommendation since he was impressed with my work and said that I brought in a lot of contribution.
How much weight would he carry if he were to carry any at all? I know that recommendations from faculty members who don't actually know or have worked with students is harmful, but I feel like this is not my case.
I am asking this question because I am debating if I should apply to Brown ED or RD. Brown is my #1 choice but my gpa is a 3.86 and after first semester of senior year it will go up to a 3.88 so applying Brown RD will give me higher stats (even if not by a lot). Also ED applicants have higher stats on average.
Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you!
↧