Who should write the letters of recommendation for you?
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This question makes many applicants uncomfortable. Getting a LOR - letter of recommendation - from any professor or boss is a complicated process, and on top of that if you are unsure if that is the right person for recommendation, then it is even more pain.
The typical dilemma some applicants face that they were taught by ‘less famous’ or non-PhD professors but there are other stars in their college who never taught the applicant. The real answer is both the LORs in this case will be useless but you need to get from those who actually taught you. Many applicants have some work experience and want to know whether they should get the letters of recommendation from the professors or managers at job. The answer is that PhD or MS admission committees don’t give any weight to references from the job (with the exception if the job was a teaching or research job). On the other hand MBA adcoms like only job related letters of recommendation especially from current and recent jobs. All of us who have ever applied for a US university know how tough it is to even think of getting a letter of recommendation from our current boss!! If you have slightest doubt that disclosing your application plans will lead to direct or indirect disadvantage at job just ignore this wish of MBA adcoms and go ahead with the reco from old employers or professors.
Then there are various combinations of doubts involving the internship supervisor etc. You can get maximum one LOR from the summer internship job - if the company or the supervisor adds value to your profile.
Here is a quote from UC Santa Cruz CS website, “While good GRE scores and grades are important in deciding on graduate admissions, our group relies heavily on letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose. We’re interested in hearing what your professors and others have to say about you, and in what you have to say about yourself. We have found that letters from active researchers in computer systems tend to be most helpful; a letter from a person we know is more useful than from a person we don’t know. Letters from faculty who’ve observed you in computer systems classes, particularly those involving projects, are also good.” This is specific to a particular research group, however gives some idea on how the decision makers think.
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