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Question on recommenders

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SOMguy
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Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2011, 01:02
My immediate manager is writing one of the recommendations, and I'm debating between who I should choose to write my next recommendation.

One of the deans from my grad school is willing to write a recommendation for me, and could offer a perspective from a more academic setting. However, I was in grad school 2 years back, and his opinion might be a little dated. The other option is the director in my current company, who I've known for the past several months, and who is also willing to write a recommendation.

Which recommendation would have a greater weight to the adcom, the dean's or the director's?

If I go with the director, I'd have 2 recommendations from people in the same company...is this normal?
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jko
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2011, 05:18
SOMguy wrote:
My immediate manager is writing one of the recommendations, and I'm debating between who I should choose to write my next recommendation.

One of the deans from my grad school is willing to write a recommendation for me, and could offer a perspective from a more academic setting. However, I was in grad school 2 years back, and his opinion might be a little dated. The other option is the director in my current company, who I've known for the past several months, and who is also willing to write a recommendation.

Which recommendation would have a greater weight to the adcom, the dean's or the director's?

If I go with the director, I'd have 2 recommendations from people in the same company...is this normal?


I'd check the school website, many schools have something on their website directly addressing this. For example, MIT specifically says that academic recommendations are not preferred.
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rasta
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2011, 05:45
jko wrote:
SOMguy wrote:
My immediate manager is writing one of the recommendations, and I'm debating between who I should choose to write my next recommendation.

One of the deans from my grad school is willing to write a recommendation for me, and could offer a perspective from a more academic setting. However, I was in grad school 2 years back, and his opinion might be a little dated. The other option is the director in my current company, who I've known for the past several months, and who is also willing to write a recommendation.

Which recommendation would have a greater weight to the adcom, the dean's or the director's?

If I go with the director, I'd have 2 recommendations from people in the same company...is this normal?


I'd check the school website, many schools have something on their website directly addressing this. For example, MIT specifically says that academic recommendations are not preferred.


Most schools explicitly state that they do not prefer academic recommendations. The reason given is that they want to understand how you're viewed in a work environment ... working in teams, reporting to managers, dealing with issues, interacting with clients... etc. all of which your college professor would not be able to shed light on.
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cheetarah1980
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2011, 07:14
Most schools want professional recs, not academic ones (unless you are currently a student and your prof has interacted with you on a professional basis). It's fine to have 2 recommenders from the same company. I do. But both recommenders have different perspectives as I did different types of work with both.
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Oskie
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2011, 08:59
SOMguy wrote:
My immediate manager is writing one of the recommendations, and I'm debating between who I should choose to write my next recommendation.

One of the deans from my grad school is willing to write a recommendation for me, and could offer a perspective from a more academic setting. However, I was in grad school 2 years back, and his opinion might be a little dated. The other option is the director in my current company, who I've known for the past several months, and who is also willing to write a recommendation.

Which recommendation would have a greater weight to the adcom, the dean's or the director's?

If I go with the director, I'd have 2 recommendations from people in the same company...is this normal?


It's okay to have recommendations from the same company. I certainly did. I think something like this is even more validating to admission officers because they are hearing different types of feedback from people who are under the same roof as you. Don't necessarily pay too much attention to the weight of each recommendation as much as you want to ensure that your recommenders are giving various stories of what you're all about. The more pictures your recommenders can paint of how you interact in the workplace and with people around you, the better. It all comes down to those examples and details! :)

good luck!
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L
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink] New post   23 Oct 2011, 02:45
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Ditto on what everybody wrote above. Professional recs are much stronger. And LOTS of people have two recommenders from the same company. Try and choose the right two, and try and have them focus on different aspects of your work experience to get the most out of it.
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Re: Question on recommenders [#permalink]
23 Oct 2011, 02:45

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