Can a TA Count as an Academic Reference?

[May]

Most Ontario schools require at least 1 academic letter of reference but can it be from a TA or does it have to be from a professor?

Anyone previously applied and got accepted with a TA reference letter?

Thanks in advance!

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by May

[luckycharm]

22 hours ago, May said:

Most Ontario schools require at least 1 academic letter of reference but can it be from a TA or does it have to be from a professor?

Anyone previously applied and got accepted with a TA reference letter?

Thanks in advance!

 

one of my reference letter was from my TA

[undertheletter]

For one of my (three) letters I spoke to the prof and my TA simultaneously - we agreed that the TA would write the letter and the professor would edit, sign and submit it. I hear this isn’t uncommon in large sized classes where interaction with the prof can be minimal.

[GreyDude]

18 hours ago, undertheletter said:

For one of my (three) letters I spoke to the prof and my TA simultaneously - we agreed that the TA would write the letter and the professor would edit, sign and submit it. I hear this isn’t uncommon in large sized classes where interaction with the prof can be minimal.

This is different from a LOR from a TA. The school would receive this as a letter from the prof. 

To me, the thing not to lose sight of is that a TA is a “teaching assistant.” This is normally a student working under the supervision of a professor, and sometimes not a particularly advanced student. The first time I worked as a TA was the first semester of my Master’s program. I was green as hell and had never taught before.  Obviously, it’s also possible that a TA could be much more advanced and experienced, which might make a difference (but will your admissions committee know that?), but the point is the same. This is not a professor. Does that mean that the reference won’t be as strong in the adcom’s eyes?  Honestly, I don’t know. But I suspect it could weaken it. 
 

19 hours ago, luckycharm said:

one of my reference letter was from my TA

This shows the limits of my argument. Clearly not all law schools will care. I’m not in a position to predict how the majority will react or what the most likely response is going to be. But if your application turned out to be borderline somehow, and you were in a group of more or less equally qualified students, the adcom might, I suppose, look at your references to split the hairs, only to notice that one is from a grad student. That’s speculation. Still, I think it’s worth considering, at least. 

Edited August 23, 2021 by GreyDude
Acknowledging that I don’t know some stuff.

[undertheletter]

3 hours ago, GreyDude said:

This is different from a LOR from a TA. The school would receive this as a letter from the prof. 

Definitely - I was just throwing out an idea that OP might want to try so that they can avoid having the letter signed/submitted by the TA rather than the prof.