Your friends are correct in that you should submit at least one rec from someone who has supervised your work. Not doing so can be seen as a red flag. When I was on the adcom, recs were always seen as something that could not get you in, but something that could def keep you out. a bad, generic, or incomplete rec was always a red flag. and an excellent rec (for a top program) is often table stakes.

with all that said, the adcom cares less about the 'level' or title of the person providing your rec and more about the substance. with that in mind, were there others you worked closely with who might not have been your direct supervisor? are you able to complete any consulting assignments between now and when you apply?

you should bear in mind too that for re-applicants, the adcom will still read your original application along with your new one. they will see your recs from last time, so they'll know about the duplicate rec issue, and may not factor it as heavily for the reasons you've already cited.

hope that's helpful,
-james young

youngjames wrote:Your friends are correct in that you should submit at least one rec from someone who has supervised your work. Not doing so can be seen as a red flag. When I was on the adcom, recs were always seen as something that could not get you in, but something that could def keep you out. a bad, generic, or incomplete rec was always a red flag. and an excellent rec (for a top program) is often table stakes.

with all that said, the adcom cares less about the 'level' or title of the person providing your rec and more about the substance. with that in mind, were there others you worked closely with who might not have been your direct supervisor? are you able to complete any consulting assignments between now and when you apply?

you should bear in mind too that for re-applicants, the adcom will still read your original application along with your new one. they will see your recs from last time, so they'll know about the duplicate rec issue, and may not factor it as heavily for the reasons you've already cited.

hope that's helpful,
-james young

Thanks for the advice. I could probably ask my former co-worker who was also sort of an indirect supervisor. My previous bosses' recs were not well-written; they had no idea what they were doing, and when i tried to intervene and give them a guideline, they told me to not worry about it. Either way, i'm working on several stuff right now, where i'm sure i can get solid recs. But if not having one from a previous employer is an automatic red flag, then i need to ask my former co-worker.

I just talked to an admissions staff member at a school i'm planning on re-applying to. She told me that not getting a rec from my previous employer is not a red flag since they understand that situations change with our employers due to various reasons. She said that if I can submit strong letters from people I'm working with currently, that will more than suffice. She also did make it clear however that other schools may have different policies regarding this.

I would definitely try to get one from work, even if that means from the indirect supervisor. As long as they were not a peer at your level, they can be a solid reference if they had close contact with your work and were higher than you.

Alex