Advice on Third Recommender

[demrahc13]

I graduated in 2011 with a BA in psych, and I'm applying for MS Biostats programs this fall.  I thought I had my 3 letter writers all figured out, but now I've been kind of thrown for a loop, and I'm not sure who to ask for the third letter:  

 

1)  The person I was originally intending to ask, a psych professor from whom I took 3 classes, TA'ed for, and was my advisor for my independent research project.  She also offered to write me a letter around the time I was graduating, and I know she would write me a significantly better letter than any of my other options.  The reason I'm not sure if I should ask her anymore is because she was a tenure-track professor who was denied tenure after I graduated and is no longer teaching at my school.  From what I can tell, it doesn't look like she's teaching at any university currently.  My biggest concerns with her are even being able to track her down (I'm hoping the psych department might have her new contact info, but I'm not confident about this) and the fact that several schools I'm applying to indicate that the recommender should use a professional and not personal email address.  Since I have no idea what she's doing currently, I'm not sure if she would have a professional email address to use or if they would discount the recommendation if she didn't use a professional email address.

 

2)  Probability professor I took 1 class from senior year.  I didn't talk to her much in or out of class, but the class is at least related to the field I'm going into.  If she remembers me (and I'm not sure she would), it would likely be a "Did well in class" rec.

 

3)  Research in psych professor I took 1 class from junior year.  He gave me a 100 on a research proposal (the focus of the course was on developing the proposal throughout the semester), which I ended up basing my independent research project on.  I think there's a better chance he would remember me because I was a psych major, and I did talk to him a few times outside of class.

 

4)  Math professor I took Multivariable Calc and Differential Equations from sophomore year.  I ran into him a few times after taking those classes, and he encouraged me to pursue math instead of psych and recommended me to another student as a tutor for Calc, so I'm hoping he would remember me.  He is a retired professor, though, and only occasionally teaches classes as favors, so I might have difficulty getting into contact with him.

 

5)  Stats professor I took Multivariate Stats from my sophomore year.  Obviously her recommendation would be more relevant than some of the others, but she was a visiting professor, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to track her down.  She did tell me she'd love to write me a rec when I was in her class, though, so I'm hoping she would remember me even though it was awhile ago now.

 

I got As in all the classes mentioned above, and I also went to a very small LAC, so most of my classes were only 30 people, which will hopefully mean a greater chance of any of the professors remembering me.  Also, the other 2 recommenders I have are both psych professors, so I am a bit concerned with having a 3rd recommender who can speak to either my math/stats ability or my ability to collect and analyze data.  The other 2 recommendations I have will be glowing, so I'm hoping if I do have to resort to a DWIC letter, it won't hurt me too badly, especially since I'm only going for a Masters.

 

So, who would be the best option?  I appreciate any advice anyone can give me since I'm really stressing out about this!  

[demrahc13]

Does anyone have any ideas or advice at all?  Primarily on the issues with the first recommender, since I've pretty much decided on who it makes the most sense to ask out of professors #2-5 if I have to ask one of them.  But I'd like to use professor #1 as a recommender if it won't hurt my application that she's no longer a professor and doesn't have a professional email address/university letterhead to use.  Does anyone have any experience using a recommender who doesn't have a professional email address or university letterhead?  I'm stuck on what to do here and could really use some help!

[rising_star]

You need to track down the first recommender. S/he may very well be working at another institution, which would resolve all of your issues, wouldn't it?