Which LOR is better

[Guest criminologist]

Which LOR is better, one from a PhD lecturer (non-tenure) who worked closely with you and you know can write a strong letter, or a LOR from a full professor who is well known in the field you are applying to and know by some people on the ad comm but did not have much interaction with in the class. Both were upper level classes and you received an A and the teacher remembers you well.

[bsharpe269]

It would be hard to choose... Can you not use both?

[Guest criminologist]

Can't I only needed 3 and had the other 2 chosen, just wanna see what others think is better if I had to choose one

[VirginianFeminist]

I think the LOR from the person with whom you worked closely would generally be the better choice. On the whole, I believe a detailed letter from a lesser-known professor is stronger than a limited letter from a well-known professor. If your interactions with the full professor were limited to exams and the like, s/he might not be able to say much beyond "gz390 performed well above the average in my class and received an A for his final grade". A LOR like that doesn't add much to your application.    

[fuzzylogician]

I'd get the more detailed letter; that is generally much better than a "did well in class" letter, even if the writer is less famous. If the famous professor remembers you and is willing to do so, you might try and ask him to "put in a good word" for you with his friends on the adcoms. A quick email or phone call mentioning your name could do you a lot of good.

[juilletmercredi]

A more detailed letter from someone who actually knows you is almost always a better choice than a more distinguished person who can only write you a lukewarm letter.

[Queen of Kale]

I'd like to make a semi-dissenting opinion and say that if you are from a small & unknown school, and your other two letters are from people unknown in your chosen field, it is not crazy to ask for a letter from someone with a little extra name recognition if they can write more than an "A in class" type letter. I say this as someone from that very situation. Many times the letter from the more famous person was brought up during interviews as a highlight of my application because the POIs had very little way (besides my GRE) of comparing my high grades from Unknown U. to the applicants they had for the same slot from Clout College.

[vityaz]

For what it's worth, I had to choose between a post-doc that knew me very well and knew the director of the program I was applying to vs. a tenured Professor who I had one class with. I chose the post-doc and was accepted.

[Guest criminologist]

ok I just want to say I asked this question way after I had already applied, I had the lecturer instead of the professor to write the recommendation so just wanted to know that I made the right choice

[chai_tea_1234]

I would definitely go with the PhD lecturer you are more familiar with. At least, the recommender has a PhD degree

[spellbanisher]

I was in a similar situation, and I chose the lecturer.