All potential LORs in unrelated fields for a STEM (comp ling) master's?

[gulabjamun]

I am a recent mechanical engineering graduate in India and I just started working as an entry-level data analyst. I took introductory programming courses in college, and apart from that online courses in data structures and algorithms and now I'm pretty much learning a bunch of programming languages on the job.

I am very interested in computational linguistics and would like to apply to master's programs in the US for Fall 2017. The problem is I haven't done any formal CS courses in college, or linguistics for that matter (again I've done a couple of MOOCs, and I worked on a linguistics writing sample on my own). I have taken a couple of foreign languages in college (I know three, apart from three Indian ones and English). That applicants may not have formal CS/linguistics education does not seem to be a problem for most of the programmes I'm applying to, but a couple mention the CS prerequisites quite clearly.

So I've been thinking about getting an LOR from a mechanical engineering professor I worked with closely on a project, one from a humanities professor (who does classics/Sanskrit, I took a class with him and he knows about natural language processing because he's worked in it), and one from a foreign languages professor (lol). NONE of these people are directly related to CS or linguistics. I could get one from a mech professor but would that really help? Can't get one from work, it would jeopardise my job.

If it's at all relevant, I have good GRE scores and a decent CGPA (all above 90th percentile, 8.16/10 which is like a distinction?) from a well-ranked university in India. Will my LORs being from unrelated fields wreck my application?

[rising_star]

Will it wreck your application? No. But the real question you should be asking yourself is how these recommendation letters will help/strengthen your application? Right now, it doesn't sound like they will. Do you have anyone that can talk about your research experience? About the MOOCs and other self-taught stuff you've done and why? Are there any professors from your introductory programming courses who could write you a solid letter? Could you take a CS course or two in person and wait a year to apply to master's programs? Doing so might give you the chance to shore up your background in CS and get solid rec letters.

In addition, I'd encourage you not to blindly apply to school that have formal CS prereqs. If you want to apply, you should contact the Director of Graduate Studies to find out if your application would even be considered so you aren't wasting your money.

[gulabjamun]

I don't have any close relationships with CS professors but I'll look into people who can talk about research experience and the self-taught stuff, I might know a suitable professor. And yeah, I'll be careful and contact schools directly then. Thanks!