What is would be my "relationship" with a recommender whose class I was a TA for?

I'm applying to graduate school. One of the people who are going to write a reference letter for me was my professor in a course. Also, I later became a TA in her class. I have to determine my relationship with this recommender in a field that can take only a few words. What should I put there?

asked Dec 4, 2019 at 17:38 479 1 1 gold badge 6 6 silver badges 10 10 bronze badges

1 Answer 1

How about "student and later assistant"? I think it would be well understood. Make it teaching assistant if you want five words instead of four.

Or if you want to turn it to reference them instead of yourself: "professor, later TA supervisor".

answered Dec 4, 2019 at 17:44 385k 87 87 gold badges 1k 1k silver badges 1.5k 1.5k bronze badges I'd go with the latter: this field is meant to describe the other person. Commented Dec 4, 2019 at 17:52

This answer is a good suggestion. Also, most recommendation letters begin with a brief description of the recommender's relationship to the candidate. So there is not much need to worry that the short description is too vague, imo.