<p>I have been wondering this, but lets say you have connections with a professor at a university. If the professor writes a recommendation and expresses interest to teach the person, does the person have a better chance or is it the same.</p>
<p>definitely will help you.</p>
<p>lucky you...what school, what class?</p>
<p>Depends how you know them:
family friend - not so much
"he did invaluable research for me over the summer" - more of a plus</p>
<p>I have a friend who had a professor of an ivy league school write him a reccomendation and he got waitlisted at that school, and he got accepted to 4 other ivys. He knew this professor from his own experiences, not a friend of the family or anything like that. I'd say the effect is minimal, but this could just be an anomaly</p>
<p>I duno. A professor can really turn the tables for an applicant.</p>