Applying for PhD with 2 masters degrees -- where to go for LOR?

[acarol]

Hi all,

 

Long time lurker, new member. I'm trying to get ahead in preparing for Fall 2014 PhD applications (in Canada) and have a question about LORs.

 

I have my MA in English and am currently completing my MEd. My research interests are interdisciplinary across both fields, which means I will be applying to 2 education programs (both at my current school) and 3 English programs.  Even though the programs are in different fields, all of them have faculty whose research reflects my own.  

 

My current thesis supervisor will provide a recommendation for all of the schools, since I think that's an inevitable choice.

 

But who else -- should I stick to a current prof at my current institution for the education programs I'm applying to here (they both need 2 letters)? Will it seem bizarre not to have any letters from my MA profs, or not so much, since it's a different field?

And who else for my English programs? They all need 2 letters in addition to my supervisor's. I am thinking at least one from my MA (whose research is related to my field), but then what to do for the 3rd? Is it better to have a recent MEd prof provide one or an older, but English-specific one?

Thanks!

[nugget]

I agree that you need to ask your current supervisor to be a reference. It would look odd or like you might be trying to hide something if you didn't.

 

Personally, I would get 2 references from your current program and one from the MA program for the education programs and 2 references from your MA program (your MA supervisor in particular) and one from your current supervisor for the English programs.

 

You didn't mention how long ago you completed your M.A, however. If it was a really long time ago (like 8+ years ago), I would probably get all of the references from your current program when applying for education programs and only use one reference from the MA program (your MA supervisor) when applying for English programs. Even if the reference is dated, your MA supervisor worked closely with you at one time and is likely to remember enough about you and your work to write a thorough letter of recommendation. 

Edited July 26, 2013 by jenste

[nugget]

Perhaps you could email a couple of the schools and see what they would recommend... Ask if there is a certain amount of time before the references become dated and go from there.

[acarol]

I agree that you need to ask your current supervisor to be a reference. It would look odd or like you might be trying to hide something if you didn't.

 

Personally, I would get 2 references from your current program and one from the MA program for the education programs and 2 references from your MA program (your MA supervisor in particular) and one from your current supervisor for the English programs.

 

You didn't mention how long ago you completed your M.A, however. If it was a really long time ago (like 8+ years ago), I would probably get all of the references from your current program when applying for education programs and only use one reference from the MA program (your MA supervisor) when applying for English programs. Even if the reference is dated, your MA supervisor worked closely with you at one time and is likely to remember enough about you and your work to write a thorough letter of recommendation. 

Thank you for the advice -- very helpful.  This is what I had been leaning toward as well.

To answer your question: I completed my MA in 2011, took one year off, and began my two-year MEd.  So, quite recent. My MA profs are the ones who provided my LORs for my current program, so I imagine the same ones would be happy to do so again for the PhD. 

What happens with education PhDs that only need 2 letters (and the online system prevents additional ones)? Do you think I should still send one from each program, or both from education profs?