Advice on LoR recommenders

[avflinsch]

So I have finally decided that I will be applying to the PhD program and am having difficulty with choosing who to ask for LoRs.

My situation - I am a fulltime employee at the university where I will be applying, I finished my undergrad there and will be completing my masters there also. This will be the only school that I will be applying to. In my entire time at the school there are only 3 professors that I have had (or will have) for more than one class.

Professor #1 - Associate professor in my graduate department. I had one course with him as an undergrad, and will be taking another with him next semester. He has already written me a professional LoR (unsolicited), and has repeatedly told me that I was one of his best students ever. His main areas of interest closely align with mine. This one is a no-brainer.

Professor #2 - Recently tenured assistant professor and respected researcher in my department. I have had 2 grad level courses with him, and his research interests somewhat intersect with mine. We have had friendly, but impersonal conversations in the past. He would be my choice for letter #2.

Professor #3 - Assistant teaching professor within my department, 1 course as an undergrad, 1 (online) course as a grad student. His research interests run parallel with mine, although he is mostly theoretical, and I lean towards more practical applications. He recognizes me on sight, but I don't think he really remembers my name.

Professional #1 - Director of the department I work in, he is also an adjunct instructor in my undergrad department, but I have never had a course with him (that would have been really uncomfortable). He knows my professional skills and ethics well.

Professional #2 - Director of the overall department which includes mine. This would be a strictly a professional recommendation, she knows me a bit better than Professional #1.

Completely off the wall choice #1 - A current PhD student in the same program that I will be applying to. This may seem like an odd choice, but we had a professional relationship when we both employed in the corporate world. We were at the same company and worked on many of the same projects together. Her area of interest is completely different from mine, but she can speak well about my professional expertise.

The application requires 3 LORs, professors #1 & #2 are obvious choices. The difficulty is the third letter. I was thinking of asking Professionals #1 & #2 to write a joint letter, but was thinking that "off the wall choice" might be a better option.

So the question is - has anyone else ever had a 'joint letter' written for them, or has anyone else used a somewhat unusual person for a recommendation?

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I'm not sure how much help I can be but I'll try! The advice I received about letters was to get at least 2 from professors and then maybe one from someone you worked for. I didn't do research but my letters were one from my adviser so I took a lot of classes with, my boss/mentor (whos a professor) at the university, and my supervisor at a museum I interned/volunteered for 2 summers. My supervisor has a bachelors but had many years of experience as a museum technician. I was accepted into 2 universities, had 1 really interested, and then rejected from the other 4. I think my letters were a little unusual but I felt like they were appropriate for what I wanted to study/knew they could give me the best references. I would ask someone who you really trust and see what they say. Of course I'm just starting my studies, so my advice may not be the best.

[fuzzylogician]

Are you applying for a professional or research-based degree? Is it a Masters or a PhD (or something else)? Whatever you do, I don't think a letter from a PhD student is a good idea; she can't speak to your ability to succeed in the program (she hasn't even gone through it herself) and she was not a supervisor at your work, so this is at most a peer evaluation and won't count for much. I feel like even with your descriptions, I don't have a good sense of what each of these potential LOR writers will actually say about you. You should choose the third letter so that it is detailed and (if possible) covers any aspects of your personal and academic profile not already covered by the other letters, to the extent that this extra information is relevant. So if this is a research-based PhD program and professor #3 can speak to your strength in research and give detailed examples of past successes, then I'd choose him even if LORs #1 and #2 say similar things, because details of your professional work seem less relevant. If prof #3 will only write something short and generic, then it might not be the best choice, and perhaps the professional letter will be more detailed and can still be relevant. If this is a professional degree and Professional #1+2 can write a detailed letter about aspects of your work and personality that are relevant to the degree you are applying for, then I'd be much more inclined to choose them. In short, it depends on your goals and on the actual potential content of each letter. 

[avflinsch]

It is a research based phd after a professional masters - which is required for entry to the phd program.

After thinking about it for a while, I am more inclined to go with professors 1 & 2, along with professional #1.