LOR's -- is there a limit?

[green_tea09]

I am in a PhD program and am getting ready to apply for a few research grants for next year. I have only been in my current program for a few months, so I only know one, maybe two, professors well enough to ask them to write letters of reference for me.

My referees who wrote my phd LOR's are all people I know really well. I want to ask one or two of them to write LOR's for my grant apps, but also wonder how many letters are too many to request from referees? They all wrote about 8 letters for me last year, and I don't want to be annoying. Do you think most professors are used to writing a bunch of LOR's for their former students?

[fuzzylogician]

Several of my colleagues who applied for grants a few weeks ago only got references from professors in our current program. We're in our first semester, but still that somehow didn't seem to cause a problem. I don't think any of them got references from former referees because (I assume) those people are not going to be the ones who advise on the project for which you are seeking funding. Have you tried asking your current adviser what's customary? I'm sure they can tell you if they still write letters for former students.

[rising_star]

When I applied for a national fellowship in the first semester of my PhD, my inclination was to get my PhD advisor to write one letter then profs from my MA program to write the rest. My advisor immediately nixed this idea--his argument was that I needed to show the people reading my application how connected and supported my interests are by the faculty where I am *now*, not where I was. So, I got profs who were teaching me for the first time to write my 3 of the required letters, and my MA advisor to write the fourth. I didn't get the fellowship but I don't think that had anything to do with the letters.

[green_tea09]

When I applied for a national fellowship in the first semester of my PhD, my inclination was to get my PhD advisor to write one letter then profs from my MA program to write the rest. My advisor immediately nixed this idea--his argument was that I needed to show the people reading my application how connected and supported my interests are by the faculty where I am *now*, not where I was. So, I got profs who were teaching me for the first time to write my 3 of the required letters, and my MA advisor to write the fourth. I didn't get the fellowship but I don't think that had anything to do with the letters.

Thanks for the advice! That does make sense to ask for letters from my current professors. I guess I just feel more comfortable pestering old profs who I know better. But, I can see that it will make my applications stronger to get letters from people who can comment on my current research plans.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I am in a PhD program and am getting ready to apply for a few research grants for next year. I have only been in my current program for a few months, so I only know one, maybe two, professors well enough to ask them to write letters of reference for me.

My referees who wrote my phd LOR's are all people I know really well. I want to ask one or two of them to write LOR's for my grant apps, but also wonder how many letters are too many to request from referees? They all wrote about 8 letters for me last year, and I don't want to be annoying. Do you think most professors are used to writing a bunch of LOR's for their former students?

When I was applying for fellowships earlier this year, my current advisor told me that

(1) It would look bad if the *only* people I got to write LoRs were from my old school, and

(2) It would also look bad if I didn't get my former research advisor to write me a LoR.

I figured she knew what she was talking about and went for the mix.