3rd Recommendation . . .

[EEemily]

Hi! My name is Emily and I'm applying for my Master's in Electrical Engineering. So I'm running to pretty much the same dilemma that some previous posters have ran into: who to ask for my third recommendation. My first recommendation is from an EE Professor whom I've taken two classes with and researched for my Sophomore year. My second recommendation is from a CE professor that I worked for over the summer and am currently working for but have not taken any classes with.

 

For my third option, it's really an open field:

 

I have this young Professor who I did well in his Electronics class, and he greets me in the hallways. He's also helped me in the lab once for a different class. He's young and enthusiastic.

 

I have this older Professor/chair of the undergraduate MechE department who I did well in his Mechanics of Materials class with him. And am now taking a second class, Thermodynamics, with him. He used to greet me in the hallways, but I have not seen him about in the hallways lately. And the current class I'm taking with him is much larger than the first class with him, so little interaction with him. Also, he is a mechanical engineering Professor, not electrical. 

 

For both cases, I received an A. The first case is an electrical engineering professor, while the second case is a mechanical engineering professor, which is not what I'm pursuing. But maybe he can add a unique spin because of that?

 

My last choice if those two won't work is my writing professor. I took two writing classes with her and she knows me well enough. And I've written a recommendation for her to help her get promoted. However, her department is completely unrelated to Electrical Engineering.

 

What do you guys think?

Edited October 7, 2013 by EEemily

[fuzzylogician]

So basically both of them can say you took a class with them and did well? Can they say anything beyond that? If not, this letter be quite weak -- which is ok, if your other letters are stronger. If the content will be pretty much the same, you could try asking yourself if maybe one professor is better known than the other. I imagine the more established professor is better known, but the question is if they'll also recognize his name in EE. A letter from someone famous will carry more weight, though again this is all under the caveat the usefulness of a "did well in class" letter is rather limited.

[EEemily]

Yeah, I know they are pretty weak. I just don't know any other professors well. I think it's because I took two classes and worked with my 1st recommender, so I already limited my choices. =[ The MechE professor could spin that I took a bunch of MechE classes that wasn't required of me since I'm an EE . . . but I don't know if that will help.

 

I do know this other person, he's the STEM coordinator at my hometown public school district. I went to an Engineering Camp he was a director of when I was a kid, then was a high school intern for him, and finally an assistant teacher for him the summer of my freshmen year of college. He knows me pretty well. But I'm unsure how useful his recommendation would be. It'd be great but I don't know the usefulness of a non-professor recommendation.

Edited October 8, 2013 by EEemily

[EEemily]

I have another professor who I worked as a grader for his class for two years. He is not in the Engineering Field though. He is in the Education Field, and teaches math reasoning courses to people who want to be grade school teachers. He would be able to testify to my work ethnic. Would that be better than a "did well in course" recommendation.

[TakeruK]

I think you would be okay with 2 strong research supervisor LORs and one "did well in class" LOR. I don't think it really matters who write your "did well in class" letter, unless, as fuzzy suggested, the name of the professor will be known to your admission committee (in a positive way). So, it's probably better to go with the EE prof or the MechE prof instead of your writing professor. With all else being equal, I would go with EE since it's more relevant to your field of research. However, if you are applying to a program where the MechE prof might have some ties (e.g. collaborators, alma mater) or if the MechE prof is generally well known enough for their work that people in EE might have heard of them, then go with the MechE prof. But, as fuzzy also said, since this is a "did well in class" LOR, it is probably not worth too much worry deciding between these two.

 

Also, your original two choices (the above LORs) are much better than the other ideas, but it's good that you have been brainstorming all possible pathways! Although the other two ideas (STEM coordinator, Education prof) would be great recommenders for jobs outside of academia, they are not the right type of LOR you want for applying to grad school. The STEM coordinator is not in academia and since you're coming from a "traditional path" (i.e. no prolonged absences between undergrad and grad school to do work in your field etc.), I think you would be expected to provide references from academia. And although grading is a part of grad student life, I don't think your ability to work as a TA is really a huge factor in admission. Letters that describe good work ethic, good character, etc are not very useful for grad school applications, in my opinion. This is because I think your other two research related LORs would already do this and your good work ethic would be demonstrated in both these letters and your transcript. 

 

In summary, I think it's important to remember/realise that LORs for grad school are very different than LORs for jobs we might have applied to in the past. The main thing that the committee is interested in is: "Will the applicant succeed in our Masters/PhD program?" The main definition of success is producing great research and the best way they can answer this question is to hear what your previous research supervisors have to say about your research work.