Stats PhD: letters of rec

[soaact]

Hi! I'm a domestic applicant, and I've been out of college for a while (5+ years). I have a good GPA from one of top 20 stats/math departments. Regarding the letters, I was going to ask my advisor from work (who knows me well) and two college professors (one from math, another from stats) who knew me well but whom I haven't talked to in a while. Assuming that the letters from my professors are strong, would the adcoms be okay with the fact that I haven't worked with them and that they don't know about my recent work? Do you think I should try to replace one or both of the professors with someone from work? Thanks in advance!

[bayessays]

I think your current plan makes sense. 3 work letters would not be ideal.

[soaact]

Thanks for the response! @bayessays

[insert_name_here]

The above advice is good. Particularly if your work colleagues don't have PhD's, which would make their letters much less helpful.

[StatsG0d]

IMO it's always better to have letters from people who can attest to your math ability. If your advisor at work can do that, I'd say go for it. If not, maybe consider sending 4 letters for places that allow it, adding another math/stats professor.