non-trad letter of rec?

[deleted555445]

right now i have one composite letter from my post-bacc (different from a committee letter, written by program director, apparently it only counts as one LOR), one from a science professor, and one from my current PI. i'm wondering the value of letters of rec from the following people:

1. company commander in the National Guard
   • worked with him for 2+ years, have a great relationship, but he's really not a great writer
2. professor from graduate program in public health (he's an MD)
   • i feel like having an MD rec helps (the rest of mine are PhD's), but we've only interacted over zoom and email
3. NP at the hospital program that i volunteer
   • I was definitely going to ask her but since Covid almost all of our interaction has been through Zoom, i've only met her once in person.... not sure if its worth it but it might check a box for the couple of schools that request 'clinical' letters
   • this is the one i'm most conflicted about
4. PI i used to work for
   • haven't spoken to him in 6 years at this point other than in-passing when trying to get a paper accepted... feels like it would probably be a useless letter, i doubt he remembers much about the undergrad from 2014. but i've heard its a red flag if you don't have a LOR from a former PI for some of the research-intensive schools.

i think with the letters i have i meet the minimum requirements for most schools, but i don't know if its worth it to try to get more. thanks in advance!

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[Grogu]

Sounds like one from your company commander would be the strongest considering the length and degree of your relationship with him. Seems like option 2 or 3 wouldn't have as much heart in it. Not to mention one from your previous commander would be significantly different than all the ones you current have, which are all education focused so they are going to reflect you as a person more from a classroom/research side.