Advice needed: Who should I ask to write my LORs?

[Nozistin]

Hey Gradcafe Community,

I was hoping to get advice on who to ask to write my LOR. I have been out of school for a year now and even when I was in school I was not the best at connecting with professors. I have a couple of options but none of them are great to be honest. Those professors that know me better are less reputable while I also have options from my current position (supervisors with PHDs) at work that I'm wondering if they would be appropriate. Basically these are my options:

Professor 1: Poli Sci professor. Outside my subfield. Stanford grad, currently works at a top 7 institution. A- in class. Was a research assistant for him for a semester about two years ago. Knows me 5/10.

Professor 2: Critical Writing professor. UCLA grad, taught at multiple top 10s. A in class. It was a small class and she often commented very positively on my work. Knows me 5/10.

Professor 3: Poli Sci professor. Closer to my subfield. UCSB grad. Teaches at a CC and that where I know him from. Took 3 courses with him: A, A, B. We are pretty good friends now. Knows me 10/10.

Work supervisor: Ph.D. in Psychology. Harvard Grad. Current research director at private foundation where I work. Will continue to get to know him more. Knows me 7/10.

Work supervisor: Ph.D. in Rhetoric. U of Utah Grad. Former chief of staff of President of large state University. Current program officer of private foundation. Will continue to get to know him more. Knows me 8/10.

 

I was hoping to give a heads up to and reconnect with those I've lost touch with sometime soon so all opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[magnanimous]

How many LORs would you need? Do you have other people in place already writing some for you, or are these your only options (not saying that these are bad options, because IMO, you have some really good choices here!)?

Assuming that you'd need three letters, you probably want to have different people that can comment on different aspects of your education/work life. I'd say you definitely want a letter from Professor 3. They know you the best, are closest to your field of interest, and have taught you in three different classes. I don't know how their position at a CC instead of at a 4-year would weigh in, but they seem to be the one that can speak the most to your abilities (in class at least).

I'd rank Professors 1 and 2 about the same, and both work supervisors about the same, and if you need three letters, then I would ask one of both along with Prof 3.

[Nozistin]

On 3/21/2016 at 9:01 AM, magnanimous said:

How many LORs would you need? Do you have other people in place already writing some for you, or are these your only options (not saying that these are bad options, because IMO, you have some really good choices here!)?

Assuming that you'd need three letters, you probably want to have different people that can comment on different aspects of your education/work life. I'd say you definitely want a letter from Professor 3. They know you the best, are closest to your field of interest, and have taught you in three different classes. I don't know how their position at a CC instead of at a 4-year would weigh in, but they seem to be the one that can speak the most to your abilities (in class at least).

I'd rank Professors 1 and 2 about the same, and both work supervisors about the same, and if you need three letters, then I would ask one of both along with Prof 3.

 

Thanks for the response! I need at least 3 some schools may take more. These are all I have. There is an other CC professor who knows me pretty well but I'm scared of having to many CC professors write me letter of rec. I'm mostly wondering how much graduate school prestige matters in these cases (Harvard Ph.D v University of Utah) and how appropriate non-professors are for Ph.D. LORs?

[rising_star]

45 minutes ago, Nozistin said:

I'm mostly wondering how much graduate school prestige matters in these cases (Harvard Ph.D v University of Utah) and how appropriate non-professors are for Ph.D. LORs?

Serious question: do you think adcoms have enough time (or care enough) to look up where the person writing your rec letter got their PhD? Generally speaking, nope, they don't. If they know the name right away, great, maybe that'll help. But I've never looked at anything other than the name of the person and where they work when reading rec letters and I imagine most others are the same.

[Nozistin]

Just now, rising_star said:

Serious question: do you think adcoms have enough time (or care enough) to look up where the person writing your rec letter got their PhD? Generally speaking, nope, they don't. If they know the name right away, great, maybe that'll help. But I've never looked at anything other than the name of the person and where they work when reading rec letters and I imagine most others are the same.

To be honest, I have no idea how folks would sign off on their letters and whether that is something they would include. But thank you.

If you saw a letter coming from a professional source, such as a private foundation or none-university research institution, would that raise a flag?

[rising_star]

Depends on what the letter says and the writer's relationship is to whomever the letter is about. I suppose it might also depend on the foundation and whether it was something like the NIH versus the Cato Institute. 

When you sign a rec letter, you typically just sign with your name and your job title. Maybe your phone number if you're being fancy. Few people actually include their highest degree because it's generally evident from the job title (though if it's not, then maybe you would include it).