LOR from a professor that graduated from the school that I will apply?

[The Psyche]

Hi guys

I am planning to do voluntary research work for professors and now I am stuck between a professor that graduated from a top tier school that I wish to apply to, and a female professor which also graduated from a prestigious college (call me superficial but I have heard that LOR from a female professor is a plus if everything else is equal). I am interested in both professors' works, and they are both good mentors as I've heard, so what comes next is their LORs. Is it an advantage to have a LOR from a professor that graduated from that school that I apply to? What other factors should I consider?

Thanks.

[rising_star]

I think you're worrying far too much about who writes the letter and not enough about the content of the letter. You want to build a relationship with whichever one of these people and get a strong letter from them. A mediocre letter from someone won't help you, regardless of whether they graduated from a school you're applying to. You're seriously overthinking this and trying to game the system when you should be focusing on whose research you want to work on, excelling at that, building a strong connection, and thereby getting a great recommendation letter.

[The Psyche]

I think you're worrying far too much about who writes the letter and not enough about the content of the letter. You want to build a relationship with whichever one of these people and get a strong letter from them. A mediocre letter from someone won't help you, regardless of whether they graduated from a school you're applying to. You're seriously overthinking this and trying to game the system when you should be focusing on whose research you want to work on, excelling at that, building a strong connection, and thereby getting a great recommendation letter.

Thanks a lot for your reply and I admit I am overthinking, after all it's a big decision in life and I don't have a strong background so I have to maximize my chance. Your suggestions are very helpful and I will work on excelling my work instead of worrying about what I shouldn't. Thanks.

[rising_star]

Choosing who writes your letters of recommendation is really not that big of a decision. You want the people who will write you the strongest letters and, collectively, you want the three letters to speak to both your research skills and academic ability/potential.