Who makes a better EE recommender (for letter of rec)?

[eesj]

I am applying to Stanford's EE grad program and need some advice on who to choose for my 3rd letter of rec.

My dilemma - The program I am applying to requires 3 letters of recommendation, where 1 must come from a Stanford faculty member (stating they will be your advisor). So this really leaves me with choosing 2 references to persuade the adcomm. I am now choosing between who will be the best 3rd recommendation...

LORs:

Letter # 1: Stanford professor recommending me to the program (i.e. he is backing my application as my advisor). This is really a character reference since his decision is coming from a presentation I made and an interview.

Letter#2: A past Stanford Ph.D. who I have been working/researching with for the past +3 years. This will be my strongest LOR. since he has the best knowledge of my capabilities/background, ability to research, and has a history with Stanford.

Letter#3A: Co-worker/Ph.D who I have researched with and have also worked with for 3 years. He is not well published, but has held high positions within industry. Also his Ph.D. was in applied physics versus EE.

OR

Letter#3B: Past undergrad advisor (back in 2007). A Stanford EE Ph.D who completed research with one of Stanford's most well known EE professor/researcher. Very well known in industry. I have not really interacted with this professor much since 2010 (met to discuss research i was conducting) so this may weaken this reference. But, this professor understands the importance of the LOR and is familiar with Stanford's admissions - so I feel the letter will be written with the goal in mind of persuading the adcomm.

Based on my LOR background, who do you feel will make a better Letter #3 (3A or 3B)?

[HassE]

Frankly, I'll be honest. The Stanford Professor that recommended you simply does not know you. So what kind of recommendation can he write about you after he met you once regarding an interview. He doesn't know you on the educational level, he doesn't know you on the research level, and frankly, he doesn't even know you on the personal/character level.

Put yourself in his shoes, what could he possibly say staring at a blank page over someone that he met for only a few hours along with the other hundreds of students he socializes with daily.

If you still do go with him as your recommendor, then you almost have to go with your past undergrad advisor. How can you be applying to an educational institute and you have no one backing up your past educational experiences?

My advice? Scrap the Stanford Professor and go with Letter #2, Letter #3a, and Letter #3B.

That's fantastic that you have the professor backing you up, but I see no reason why he would write you a recommendation. His department will be reviewing your application, all he simply has to do is go to the committee and say "yes I like this student, I think he'll fit in well here". That's about all he knows about you, and him personally going to the committee to say that means a hell of a lot more than him saying that on paper when you could of had a quality recommendation from someone else.

That's just my opinon, i'm in a Ph.D program now but it no where compares to Stanford. That's what I would do though.

[eesj]

The application for this degree program (Eng. D.) requires a Stanford professor to back your application - so I need this LOR. This is why my dilemma is who makes a better letter of rec, 3A or 3B?