Best people to ask?

[ayumiko]

I'm having trouble deciding on three people to ask for LOR. I have two professors I have done research with who are obvious choices but I am unsure who to select for my third LOR.

 

My school's campus has 2 universities on it. One professor I did research with is at the other school and one is at the school I graduated from. There is another professor I am close to that I took a class with at the other university who offered to write me a LOR on her own. However, I'm concerned that 2 of my 3 letters being from the other school will look odd. Important to note though is that I attended this school many years ago when I was less serious about college. I have since received an associates and then my B.S. since then.

 

My only other options are a prof. I asked at my school that seemed very lukewarm about it considering it was just one class I took with him and he's in the chemistry dept not the bio dept. I was also looking at a LOR from a respected veterinarian I work for at a large advanced animal hospital. I'm a certified vet tech and have a strong working relationship with the Dr but do not work directly for her, the hospital manager is also someone I think would be very willing but not well known like the Dr. I'm applying to PhD programs in ecology so I'm not sure if that is considered a relevant reference anyway.

 

I know at least one letter will be a really good one so how much should I worry about this third one?

[nugget]

I would eliminate the professor who is lukewarm about it. It doesn't sound like he would write a strong letter, based on your description of how he responded when you asked him.

[TakeruK]

I would go with the prof at the other school that offered to write you a LOR. It sounds like it's more relevant to the programs you're applying to. Having two research based LORs is pretty great!

[ayumiko]

Thanks for the input! I didn't think this would be such a stressful process but the closer to app time it gets the more I worry!