LOR from profs at school I'm applying to

[LinguistK]

I decided I want to go to a particular school, and this school only. Since I was being laid off from my job, I decided to just move to the town where said school is, and start taking classes. I took classes this summer, and more this fall. I'm applying to start their PhD program in Fall 2010. I got letters of recommendation from a very well-known prof in the department, as well as a well-respected TA (he's in the last year of finishing his dissertation, and he's a pretty important guy in the department).

So...since I have LORs from two people in the department (and one from my previous employer), can I expect to get in? I don't want to get my hopes up and feel like I'm a shoo in, because I really don't want to be disappointed. But I feel like these are some really good LORs. What do you think?

[herring]

If they gave you an average rec, you have an average chance of getting in.

If they say you're one of the best students they've had, you have an excellent chance.

Simply getting a recommendation isn't enough information, since letters of rec range from standard to glowing, but a glowing rec certainly holds more weight coming from the department itself, since the professors play the major role in admissions. Talk to the prof.

[1f3_2kf2]

say to the prof: "I want nothing more than to get into this department and this department only. it is not enough to say that this dept is my first choice. what are my chances? what can i do to improve my chances?"

seriously anything the prof says to that question is worth 100x anything you'll find on this forum