Hello. I will be applying to graduate schools in the biology and medical science area very soon. The problem is, I haven't done a thesis or a project course, and therefore I am being declined letters of reference by professors because they are saying that they cannot accuretely evaluate me (even though I took many courses with them and did really well in them). It should be noted that these professors are from the life science, biology and environmental sciences. The thing is, I have taken some arts and humanities courses as well and did really well in them. These professors are gladly willing to write letters of recommendation for me. Now what I'm wondering is, since I am applying in the biology and medical science area, would I be at a disadvantage if my letters of reference are coming strictly from professors from the faculty of arts and humanities?

Originally Posted by Mr.Prodigy

Hello. I will be applying to graduate schools in the biology and medical science area very soon. The problem is, I haven't done a thesis or a project course, and therefore I am being declined letters of reference by professors because they are saying that they cannot accuretely evaluate me (even though I took many courses with them and did really well in them). It should be noted that these professors are from the life science, biology and environmental sciences. The thing is, I have taken some arts and humanities courses as well and did really well in them. These professors are gladly willing to write letters of recommendation for me. Now what I'm wondering is, since I am applying in the biology and medical science area, would I be at a disadvantage if my letters of reference are coming strictly from professors from the faculty of arts and humanities?

If it's all you have, then it doesn't really matter whether or not it's a disadvantage, you should use them. That said, they cannot speak to your scientific research ability, nor does it seem like you have any experience doing that. For grad school references they're not really looking for profs to talk about courses you did well in, because your transcript tells them that. They want to learn about you in a research capacity, because that's what grad school is. The arts and humanities profs can talk about other qualities that are important, such as perseverance, inquisitiveness, hardworking, attention to detail, etc. that relate to your ability to be a good researcher, so those reference letters certainly aren't useless, but also probably not as ideal as one from someone who could speak about you in a research capacity.

I was always under the impression that a thesis was a necessary "prereq" for grad school (since that's basically what grad school is..endless research), huh.

Honestly yes I think you will be at a disadvantage, especially since the vast majority of grad school applicants have conducted research in undergrad. Doing well in humanities course doesn't say very much about your ability to pursue research.

Originally Posted by inthemaking

I was always under the impression that a thesis was a necessary "prereq" for grad school (since that's basically what grad school is..endless research), huh.

Honestly yes I think you will be at a disadvantage, especially since the vast majority of grad school applicants have conducted research in undergrad. Doing well in humanities course doesn't say very much about your ability to pursue research.

Yeah, it's very advantageous to do a thesis if you want to go to grad school, and I believe much more difficult to get in if you haven't, although it does depend on the person's other experiences as well. I don't think it's outright listed as a prereq, but it does put you at a disadvantage not to have done one.

Yeah I don't have any research experience unfortunately. But what do you think about applying to course-based Masters programs? What about Global Health or Public Health?

You always want the strongest references possible, so if those are humanities profs, ask them. In the end, if your options are: Reference letters from Arts' professors or no references, I would go with the Arts' profs

you could delay applying to grad school and use that time to complete an independent study project (usually 3 units) or a thesis in a biology related area.
that would kind of suck though... i'd probably just apply with the Arts refs and see what happens. while waiting, you could totally email science profs and ask them if you could volunteer in their lab.

Yeah I guess I'll just use whatever references I can get, and also look around for volunteer opportunities in labs. Thanks for the advice guys.