Clout vs. Personal Knowledge

[Gingermick]

I have been out of undergrad for about 4 years, and have decided to apply for a PhD in literature. I am having trouble trying to decide who to ask for my letters of recommendation. I took an online class that I got an A in, so I will definitely use that professor (actually lecturer). While the difference between lecturer and professor means very little to me (some of my best undergrad teachers were lecturers), I have heard it's best to at least have one full professor write you an LOR. I've also heard for literature that letter from employers are useless. So possible candidates from my undergrad:

Professor A: Big name in my field, fancy schmancy super distinguished professor status, but I took a huge lecture style class with him and he probably will not remember me. Got an A- in his class, but I can't remember the T.A. so I'm not sure if a lukewarm letter from a big name would help me at all.

Professor B: Actually not a professor, just a continuing lecturer, but I took 3 classes with her and I expect of all my undergrad professors she will remember me the best. The only problem is I received A-'s in all her classes, so clearly I am not "the best student in the past 10 years" according to some of those rec forms.

Professor C: When I took her class, she was just a lecturer, but now she is a TT Assistant Professor at a different, big name school (my undergrad was a good school, but this school is slightly higher on the hierarchy). Only took one class with her, but I got an A

Employer Reference: would write a good letter, but not relevant to my field, as the boss is a lawyer.

Since my LOR from the online class if from a lecturer, I am wondering if my letters will not be considered as strong if they are all from lecturers. Who would you choose? The big name, the lecturer who knows you, the rising professor, or the employer? Who's your second choice?

[fuzzylogician]

If any of those lecturers don't have a PhD, don't ask them for a letter. As a rule, you want the person who endorses your application to be someone who has successfully completed the (same kind of) program that you are applying to, not someone who doesn't really have the experience to say who will or will not be a successful candidate.

Other than this, if you think that B will remember you--and write you a strong letter--then pick her. Option C also sounds like a reasonably good one; was the course you took with her an advanced course? did you write any papers? if you only took one intro class with her that is obviously different than one advanced seminar. If you think you can get a strong letter from your online instructor, then that's your third letter. I'd think about asking the famous prof for a 4th letter, which at least some schools will accept and which will set you up with a nice backup in case one of your original 3 writers flakes out. That happens more often than you would like to think, so it's always good to have more options. Warning: if all you're getting is the basic "did well in class" letter that has nothing inspiring to say about you then it's OK as a supporting 4th letter, but you shouldn't use it as one of your main 3 letters. The situation improves if you wrote a good paper for that course that you could show the professor to remind him of your work. In any case, you should meet with this professor in person so that he get can to know you; bring with you a CV and samples of your work so you can show him in case he is interested, and be ready to have an informed conversation with him about your research interests and your goals. This is true for everyone who you ask for a letter - make it as easy for them as possible to write you a good letter.

A letter from your employer is indeed irrelevant to your field; that should be your last option.

[Gingermick]

Thanks for the sound advice, Fuzzy, especially about bringing work samples and CVs. Even if Professor A doesn't remember me, perhaps he will be sufficiently impressed by a writing sample to write me a letter.

[lily_]

I would start e-mailing these people now to refresh them with who you are, and inform them of the work you've done since you graduated. I have two stand-by letter writers from my undergraduate university who I periodically e-mail and visit to ensure that they remember who I am and what I have done since I graduated, and most importantly, how I've improved.

I echo fuzzy that finding letter writers who have PhD's is extremely important. I would only use an employer if the work you did for them was directly related to your field of interest and in the best-case scenario where a professional with a PhD in that field.

I'll give you a breakdown of the people I use:

Professor A - distinguished and well-known member of my field's community. I took class work of hers, and I know that in at least one of those classes I was the best student. I have also worked for her on a field project for over two years and written papers for her that she used for her publication research. Although she is flightly, and known for submitting a "standard" form rather than personal, her name carries a lot of weight.

Professor B - an "up-and-comer" a young scholar who has secured a tenured track position and is known for producing many publications. He is a recognizeable name, although not as distinguished as Professor A, and I took coursework with him during my final years of undergrad where I earned high grades, most of this coursework was at the graduate level. I know that he says in his letters that he was completely unaware of blemishes on my GPA and that I had the makings of a great graduate student, and scored higher and participated more articulately in theoretical class discussions than most of the other graduate students did.

Professor C - not particularly distinguished professor emeritus who I took a few courses with early on in my undergraduate career. He watched me go from party-girl to hopeful scholar, and will write things like, "you would be insane not to admit this all-American bright eyed girl into your coursework - her blemishes are not indicative of her abilities, and if you don't accept her someone else will and she is a rising star in the field." Above all else, he feels as though his personal success is tied with my success.

I could be wrong, as this application season I did not get accepted to any PhD programs, but I still feel like at this point this is a well-rounded group of LOR writers. However, if I get into this MA program I am waiting on (their deadline was April 15th, so there's still hope!) I will incorporate one or more of those professors into this corpus of LOR writers.

I'd go with Professors A and B so long as they both have PhDs.

[socialpsych]

I was instructed not to have non-TT faculty write my letters, but I had good options among TT faculty. C sounds like the best bet, depending on how much interaction you had during that one course with her. If not, I would choose B over A. I think reputation in the field matters a LOT, but only if it's someone who can actually say something about you.

Another thing you could do, as lily_ said, is to try getting in touch with A now. Ask him whether he would be able to write you a strong letter. (Use the word "strong.") If he can't, he will tell you, but on the off chance that he does remember you and was impressed by your performance, you will definitely benefit from having him as your recommender.

[Gingermick]

Thank you again for the advice! They all have PhDs, and Professor B is a Senior Continuing Lecturer who has been at my undergrad for a long time. The Lecturer from my online class got a PhD from my current #1 choice of graduate school, and currently lectures there. I believe she is also a continuing lecturer, as she has been there a while. I think I will take your advice and contact all of them in advance, and perhaps have 4 recommenders if they all agree.