<p>Hello, I am wondering about the impact of letters of recommendation when applying for grad school. For example, if I applied to Stanford or Caltech... and I did research with professors at my institution who were graduates or alumni of those schools and asked them to write me letters of recommendation... would the impact of the letter be a lot bigger if they earned their Masters/PhDs from there or did some kind of major research or publication?</p>
<p>Somewhat. More so if they still know the people in the department.</p>
<p>Professors who are known/trusted by the adcom carry more weight – provided that they give you a glowing recommendation. If you work with a professor who is well known in his field, and he/she gives you an excellent recommendation, it will hold more weight than an alum who does mediocre work. The worst thing you can get is a generic LOR.</p>
<p>If you have several options for LORs, choose carefully. Most students, however, known the three intuitively, based on which profs they have worked most closely with.</p>