Is a "teaching letter" a useful recommendation letter?

Question

I am an international student applying to a graduate program. I emailed my professor to see if he is okay with writing me a recommendation. He responded

It is good to hear from you. I do not write general recommendation letters, but I am ready to write about your performance in Math 412, since you have worked hard, and I enjoyed your progress. Is this teaching letter good for you? Good luck with the applications.

I am not sure what a "teaching letter" means in his reponse, is that a regular recommendation letter which could help me for my application?

Answer 1

Only your professor can say for sure. I agree it is not totally clear, though I think I understand it.

It certainly seems that he is willing to write a longer version of: "I taught this student Math 412, they did very well and I enjoyed watching their progress." This will certainly "count" as one of your required letters of recommendation. So all is well.

You should be aware, however, that "did well in class" letters are the lowest possible type of letter. See page 15 in this famous document for an explanation (or better yet, read the whole thing). But the basic reason is that such a letter doesn't provide much information beyond what's already on your transcript.

So in your professor's carefully-worded reply, he is stating that his letter will (1) not discuss any topics other than Math 412, and (2) probably not include an overall recommendation like "I recommend you admit this student." As such, this will be an extremely weak letter that will not really help you get admitted to grad school, other than by helping you meet the required number of letters. If this is a surprise, and you were expecting a much stronger letter, you can send a "thanks but no thanks" reply and ask someone else to write for you instead. Or if you want this letter anyway (because you don't have a better option), you can send a "yes please" reply.

Answer 2

Your former professor is saying that they will only write within the context of which they interacted with you. Many faculty write meaningless fluff letters about students they interacted with for 30 minutes in a class of 400 students, three years ago, recommending them to some department at some random university they have nothing to do with or care about. These letters are just filler and mean nothing for your application. It seems like this professor has taken a stand against that, and I commend them for it!

Will their focused course-related letter help you in the end? Honestly no, it won't. But you will need likely three letters for most applications and this is a good way to fill one as it appears they will at least have a positive tone.