It worked for me, @T26E4. Also, as I mentioned in my post, I believe you necessarily need the superb teacher rec, the “compelling anecdote about witnessed student interaction.” But why do you assume the teacher rec and alumni rec are mutually exclusive? Seems to me you are giving adcoms too much credit. Like so many people on CC, you seem to believe they’re somehow omniscient and impervious to name dropping and the “noteworthiness” of a letter writer. The other admitted students I know ALL got letters from noteworthy people or alums. Hate to say it, but you sound slightly naive.