<p>How ridiculous is having 4 letters of recommendation for applying to college? I asked a math teacher and a science teacher at the end of junior year, not knowing that I needed a humanities + math/science for some schools (caltech, mit, etc.). So now I need to ask a humanities teacher as well, but I don't want to tell my previously asked teachers that I don't want them to write one for me anymore (I know I would say it more diplomatically if it came to this, but you get the idea).</p>
<p>I also have a research mentor that I think likes me quite a bit, and I know some of the colleges I'm applying suggest that getting a letter of recommendation from a research mentor is a good idea. </p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
<p>EDIT: AND a letter from my guidance counselor (as required), making for a total of 5 letters of rec</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem with what you are describing. If they are saying you need to submit 3 rec’s then there is nothing crazy about it. As for the optional letter of recommendation there is nothing wrong with submitting it if you think it will benefit you.</p>
<p>It depends on the college, for example Stanford requires 2 teacher recs, one counselor rec and you have an optional letter and if you submit an art supplement is an extra one. Just go with what the requisites are.</p>
<p>If what you’re worried about is that you’ve asked your teachers and mentor for recs and now you can’t “un-ask” them, you can simply not use all of the recs at the same time for the same school. In other words, try pick two out of the four for one school, another two for another school. I think one extra rec than required is fine if it’s coming from your research mentor and describes another side of you that cannot be covered by teacher recommendations.</p>