Letters from undergrad might not reflect who I am now...

[GradHooting]

Hi,

As the years pass by with getting rejected, repeatedly, by every institution I apply to, my undergraduate professors become more distant, remembering my performance as a student less and less. Thus, I feel more inclined to look elsewhere for letters of recommendation. I am still keeping in contact with them, but, my performance and growth as an individual makes me such a vastly stronger candidate now than who I was as an undergraduate, where I had very little idea as to what I want to do, and what graduate schools wanted.

For instance, I took several graduate-level physics and math courses and maintained a 4.0 at another, more recent university, but was not getting a degree.

Additionally, I get the feeling that my professional environment might have strong academic ties which are relevant to where I want to study, because where I work is NASA, which is a research-based institution.

What are your thoughts? What defines "Academic" for letters of recommendation? I am applying for a Master's degree, and am "leaving the door open" for a Ph.D. at schools that are heavily research-oriented.

[tip3r]

First, most universities do not require recommenders to be professors. Some require one of them to be a professor.

I would get recommendation letters from the instructors at the institution where you maintained a 4.0 GPA (even if it was non-degree program).

Having a recommendation letter from engineers at NASA would definitely make your application look good. However, I understand that you may not want to mention to the guys at work that you plan on quitting and going to graduate school (this is the issue I currently have).

My advice would be to not focus solely on your undergrad profs.

[amlobo]

I second the above advice. I am only getting one undergrad professor letter, as I am 6 years out of undergrad. Some schools specifically state that they do not require "academic" references from those more than 5 years out of college. Plus, any professors who can comment on your suitability for graduate study will be great references, regardless of whether the classes you took with them were degree-seeking or not.