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It is a research based phd after a professional masters - which is required for entry to the phd program. After thinking about it for a while, I am more inclined to go with professors 1 & 2, along with professional #1.

So I have finally decided that I will be applying to the PhD program and am having difficulty with choosing who to ask for LoRs. My situation - I am a fulltime employee at the university where I will be applying, I finished my undergrad there and will be completing my masters there also. This will be the only school that I will be applying to. In my entire time at the school there are only 3 professors that I have had (or will have) for more than one class. Professor #1 - Associate professor in my graduate department. I had one course with him as an undergrad, and will be taking another with him next semester. He has already written me a professional LoR (unsolicited), and has repeatedly told me that I was one of his best students ever. His main areas of interest closely align with mine. This one is a no-brainer. Professor #2 - Recently tenured assistant professor and respected researcher in my department. I have had 2 grad level courses with him, and his research interests somewhat intersect with mine. We have had friendly, but impersonal conversations in the past. He would be my choice for letter #2. Professor #3 - Assistant teaching professor within my department, 1 course as an undergrad, 1 (online) course as a grad student. His research interests run parallel with mine, although he is mostly theoretical, and I lean towards more practical applications. He recognizes me on sight, but I don't think he really remembers my name. Professional #1 - Director of the department I work in, he is also an adjunct instructor in my undergrad department, but I have never had a course with him (that would have been really uncomfortable). He knows my professional skills and ethics well. Professional #2 - Director of the overall department which includes mine. This would be a strictly a professional recommendation, she knows me a bit better than Professional #1. Completely off the wall choice #1 - A current PhD student in the same program that I will be applying to. This may seem like an odd choice, but we had a professional relationship when we both employed in the corporate world. We were at the same company and worked on many of the same projects together. Her area of interest is completely different from mine, but she can speak well about my professional expertise. The application requires 3 LORs, professors #1 & #2 are obvious choices. The difficulty is the third letter. I was thinking of asking Professionals #1 & #2 to write a joint letter, but was thinking that "off the wall choice" might be a better option. So the question is - has anyone else ever had a 'joint letter' written for them, or has anyone else used a somewhat unusual person for a recommendation?

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I had an older guy in some the courses for my undergrad minor, he was in his early 80's and decided to go back to school because he was driving his disabled grandson to class several nights a week. He figured as long as he was going to be on campus, he would start taking classes himself. You are never too old to learn something new.

love it! I am in a similar situation, I took a real long time to finish my undergrad - about 35 years, but I did manage to finish before my daughter. She started grad school a year after me, but we should both finish our master's at the same time next year - and we are already planning a big party

Just saw this - No, I am in the on campus program, but I have taken an online course. The advantage of the on campus program is that you can take both in person & online coursees, the online program is strictly online.

It probably means the following: You are not on the reject immediately list and you are not on the accept immediately list. They are still reviewing your application

It would really depend on where you are living. If in Philly or Princeton, public transportation is a possibility as noted, and the 45 minute drive will only happen a few times a year - if you are lucky -- unless you tend to travel at 2am An intermediate solution - Bordentown perhaps, might work with 30-40 minutes to either if driving, same public transportation problems as above Bordentown Riverline -> Trenton, then NJ Transit -> Princeton Jct, and the dinky to Princeton Bordentown Riverline -> Camden, then Patco -> Philadelphia, and subway as needed Perfectly doable unless you only have one car and have the same work/school schedules, then one of you will need to be inconvenienced with public transportation.

Same here, but he university I work for is the same as the one I am attending. The make it work out for the occasional early class.

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Started college in 1979, switched majors in 1980 Switched schools and majors in 1982 and 1984 Switched majors again in 1985 and 1986 -- at this point I decided to just go to school in order to learn enough to get better and better jobs Life intervened, got married, kids, and a new career which was going well until 2002 when my position got shipped overseas I started working at Rutgers in 2003, I was intending on taking advantage of tuition benefits and going back to finish my undergrad as soon as possible, but life intervened again (another child) and I did not start again until 2007 When I was finally finishing my undergrad in 2014, I applied to a grad program. In my original personal statement I specifically addressed my prior academic history, and spun it in my favor. At this point I was going back to school for ME -- because I wanted to do it, and not for any potential employment opportunity that would result from the graduate degree. I also stated that I would also be interested in continuing on to a possible PhD after the masters (my application will be going out later this year for the 2017 academic year). Overall, I don't think my varied academic history hurt me in any way while applying to a grad program, in fact, the diversity may have helped me.

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I have found this to be true also - the life experience makes a big difference in how we approach the entire going back to school issue. I am a bit older than you and one thing that I have noticed is that there is a better connection with my older children, since many of my class colleagues are about their age. My daughter is also in grad school (same university, totally different program), so we are able to talk about things that we never had in common before.

No. I started at 52, and one of our PhD students just finished at 60ish.

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They are about the same. The MBS version is business oriented, the MI (Master of Information) is more of a data science specialization within a more traditional library science program. Many of the courses are cross listed between the two programs - same class meetings, same requirements but different course numbers. What varies are the other requirements within the program.

There are at least 4 different master's programs in data science at Rutgers Business school MBS Analytics (actually a joint program with the School of Communication & Information) the one you mentioned Stand alone program in the School of Comm & Info (my program) -- allows part timers but you need to finish in a max of 3 years The New Brunswick Grad school (Comp Sci department) and the Math/Stats department is starting one also.

Employee benefit - full tuition, I only need to pay for assorted fees & books

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A 13 year hiatus is nothing - I took 26 years off before finishing my BA, and then went straight to the masters program. I am in the same position as you, with 3 semesters left in the masters program, and also been considering doing the PhD. It would probably be a huge effort for me, as I am sole support for the rest of my family, which include a disabled spouse and a special needs child, along with a daughter who is also in grad school (and intending on going for a PhD also after finishing the master's) and her twin brother who is still living with us. Going for the PhD would mean another ?? years of school. Financially this is not an issue for me, as I would only go if I were able to work full time and still get tuition remission (I am a full time employee of the university where I would go), but the time commitment is troubling. I do have a work colleague that is doing the full time employment and part time PhD student thing, so it is possible, but her family situation and home location with respect to the school are very different from mine. How would you handle the additional responsibilities?

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