Who should I get a recommendation letter from?

Applying to College
1

Hello. I am an international student, who wishes to apply for Fall 2021. I’ve done a CS internship at a reputed MNC, and will be putting that on my application. However, my question, is, who should I be getting a recommendation from?

I worked with a lot of people, but there was a manager who was directly above me, and the Nationwide Recruiting head. The nationwide recruiting head, is miles above, in terms of qualifications, compared to my direct manager.
However, considering that I worked very closely with my manager, he would give me a recommendation that trumps the one given by the Nationwide Recruiting head. So, should I request the higher up, for a decent, but less shiny recommendation, or my direct manager, for a really really good recommendation
My fear, is that since my manager is young and not that high up the corporate food chain, his recommendation, will not carry much value, conversely, the higher up, obviously has a lot on their plate at any given time, so his recommendation, would not be fleshed out, or look very appealing.

However, I am confident, that both these recommendations will be very positive

2

@d0loreshaze It’s up to you. I remember reading somewhere that Admissions Offices would prefer to see the letter that is more personalized and specific than a generic letter from a more well-known person. At the very selective colleges, Admissions Officers read through thousands upon thousands of applications per cycle, so a letter that isn’t more of the same (this applicant is great w/o specific evidence of how) would stand out compared to other applicants. Personally, I would ask your manager for a recommendation, b/c he is more likely to have specific examples of what you did and how you excelled at your internship.

Hope that helps! Good luck with admissions!

3

Teachers, school counselor, coach, minister, work supervisor.
How long has it been since you were in school?

4

Between those options, your manager, who knows much more about you, would be a much better choice.

Rec letters are typically from teachers and counselors. Is this in addition, or have you been out of school for a while.

5

Check out the web pages of the colleges that interest you, especially if you are still in school. Requirements vary from no recommendations considered - to none required - to anything goes - to very specific rules such as limiting the number of letters, or the letters must be from teachers, or recent teachers, or one STEM and one humanities teacher, etc. etc.

If you have been out of school of if the school to which you are applying accepts extra letters (besides those from teachers), your manager who knows you well sounds like the best choice.