Letter of Recommendation Question

[uchenyy]

I'm currently working on my MA, and this fall I'm applying to PhD programs in political science. I took a seminar in spring 2019 with a well-known professor in my field. I received an A in his course, and I went to office hours and talked with him a few times. Would it be reasonable to ask him for a letter of recommendation? My other option is to ask a professor from undergrad who is less well-known, though I know him a bit better. Isn't it more important to have letters from my graduate professors if I am already in a graduate program?

[Mixedmethodsisa4letterword]

I think the answer hinges on the other letters you have. 

[uchenyy]

23 minutes ago, Mixedmethodsisa4letterword said:

I think the answer hinges on the other letters you have. 

The other letters will come from two professors who know me and my work very well: my undergraduate adviser, with whom I took two courses, and my MA thesis adviser, with whom I also took two courses.

[sargon01]

It is quite important to have letters that get into the specifics of things you have done and accomplished. If you have to choose between a very well-known professor that can only or will only make general statements about you and a less-known professor with whom you have worked closely and will actually put some effort in writing your recommendation letter, the latter is usually preferable. This is a piece of advice I received from a very well-known American professor from a very good comparative politics program who took his time to help me understand the rationale behind US applications (I'm not American).

However, since you already have two letters from professors with whom you have worked closely with and who can probably give a detailed account of you, one as an undergrad and the other as a grad student, then I think both your choices are good. I would not worry too much about it since you seem to have a solid base to start with. Just make sure you choose someone who thinks highly of you.

When I applied last year I asked two professors I knew very well - one was my undergrad thesis adviser and the other my master's thesis adviser, and I had actively participated in a research group both of them were involved in. For my third letter, I chose a foreign professor so that my recommendation letters would not be restricted to my home country and university.

I applied to only two programs (yes, a mistake) and I was accepted to one of them.