Who should I ask for LOR from?

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I am planning on the following people for a strong LOR:

• My undergrad academic advisor/pre-vet advisor who was my professor for two of my favorite classes. We have a good relationship and she has been very helpful throughout my 4 years at school.
• Vet A who works at my job with whom I have a great relationship and knew prior to applying to work for him. I've also done some job shadowing with him at his other job.

I'm unsure of who else to ask for a LOR. I have a few options:

• Vet B at my job with Vet A. I have a good relationship with her and I think she would write a nice LOR, but because I know her from the same job I'm not sure if I need more variety of where my LORs are coming from. Also, she's much younger.
• Vet C at my job with Vets A and B. Vet C is kind of a puzzle: she is well known for being tempermental and cold, and our interactions together are rather limited and strictly professional. Even though I've known her for 6+ years I have no idea what she thinks of me. However, she has written excellent LORs for other pre-vets at our job, she's a well-respected vet in our state who teaches at my IS, holds many positions and has a lot of letters behind her name.
• Vet D who was my mentor in HS and who I shadowed extensively my senior year of HS but has since moved across the country and have been out of contact with for years. A quick google search shows that she is teaching at a CVM out of state. As my mentor, she advised me on a year-long vet related project. I guess that she could write a good LOR about my HS pre-vet preparation, but would not be able to speak to anything I have done since then. I guess my other two LOR writers would be able to talk about that stuff, but I'm also nervous about contacting her out of the blue simply to ask for something.

So my questions are these: Who do you think I should ask for my third LOR? Do you have any advice for how exactly to ask for a strong LOR? I am planning on either asking in person or over the phone, and also providing them with a resume/CV/other information to help.

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[LetItSnow]

I am planning on the following people for a strong LOR:

• My undergrad academic advisor/pre-vet advisor who was my professor for two of my favorite classes. We have a good relationship and she has been very helpful throughout my 4 years at school.
• Vet A who works at my job with whom I have a great relationship and knew prior to applying to work for him. I've also done some job shadowing with him at his other job.

I'm unsure of who else to ask for a LOR. I have a few options:

• Vet B at my job with Vet A. I have a good relationship with her and I think she would write a nice LOR, but because I know her from the same job I'm not sure if I need more variety of where my LORs are coming from. Also, she's much younger.
• Vet C at my job with Vets A and B. Vet C is kind of a puzzle: she is well known for being tempermental and cold, and our interactions together are rather limited and strictly professional. Even though I've known her for 6+ years I have no idea what she thinks of me. However, she has written excellent LORs for other pre-vets at our job, she's a well-respected vet in our state who teaches at my IS, holds many positions and has a lot of letters behind her name.
• Vet D who was my mentor in HS and who I shadowed extensively my senior year of HS but has since moved across the country and have been out of contact with for years. A quick google search shows that she is teaching at a CVM out of state. As my mentor, she advised me on a year-long vet related project. I guess that she could write a good LOR about my HS pre-vet preparation, but would not be able to speak to anything I have done since then. I guess my other two LOR writers would be able to talk about that stuff, but I'm also nervous about contacting her out of the blue simply to ask for something.

So my questions are these: Who do you think I should ask for my third LOR? Do you have any advice for how exactly to ask for a strong LOR? I am planning on either asking in person or over the phone, and also providing them with a resume/CV/other information to help.

Tricky. There's always an element of "making your best guess and go with it" when selecting your LORs.

It's obviously hard to pick from an abbreviated list like that, but ... I like Vet C first, since she has a known history of writing good LORs. And if it were me ... I'd give Vet D a call and ask her to write a fourth. It may be a few years out of date, but if she advised you for a year on a vet-related project, that's still worthwhile.

In general, always always always ask in person unless it's just not possible (like with Vet D).

How you do it is pretty straightforward: you be blunt and use some variation of: "My vet school application will be due at the end of September, and I believe you are in a good position to speak on my behalf. I have a great deal of respect for you and would like to ask if you would be willing to write me a very positive letter of recommendation."

Boom, done. The elements that matter: giving them a clue when it's due, telling them why you want them to speak for you, and ensuring that it will be a great letter.

Good luck!!