When I began the process of choosing and applying to graduate schools, I came up with a list of potential people to write letters of recommendation and went through the process of deciding who I thought would be the best.
Despite this, it didn't turn out quite the way I was expecting as the letters ended up being a very mixed batch.
The first individual wrote a stellar letter highlighting all my strengths and experiences in the field. He is the lead professor and program chair at my undergraduate university in the field I want to pursue my graduate studies.
The second person wrote a mediocre, form type letter. While he did mention some specific strengths, most of it came off as generic at best. Even though he and I had an in depth discussion as to why I was pursuing graduate studies, and has known me since I started my undergraduate studies, he did not identify any of this in the LOR. He is a professor in an area related to my intended graduate studies field.
The third wrote a poor, inconsistent letter teeming with false information that far as I can tell he pulled out of nowhere. I'm still terribly perplexed by this one above all else. When I first asked him to write the LOR he acted very enthusiastic and insisted he always writes strong, positive letters (that comment should of been a sign). I had full faith in him until I read the letter after it was submitted. The first half of the letter praised me as an excellent student and graduate candidate like recommender #1, then ripped me apart in the second half, effectively contradicting all of his previous statements. The person who wrote this is my undergraduate academic advisor.
Additionally, #1 and #2 used the LOR format requested by graduate programs/universities where specified, whereas recommender 3 ignored any and all formatting requests upon submission.
This can't be good and certainly isn't providing a consistent picture between the first and third.
The degree programs I've applied to are not exceptionally stringent in their admissions, and have higher admissions percentages compared to others in the same field/degree, but I'm still worried how the admission committees are going to interpret this.
Aside of letters of recommendation, what I have left to rely on is a 3.6 GPA, decent GRE scores, and a strong SOP.
What the question in my mind boils down to is how bad is this going to affect my chances of getting in? Should all of the academic factors plus higher admission percentages help overcome this? Has anyone been in a situation like this before and what were your experiences/admissions results?