<p>For the online application, where do I put my awards?</p>
<p>How many letters of rec am I allowed to have? Does one have to be from a counselor? And if I were to submit three but all are related to different aspects of me (personal, ECs, academic) would that be okay?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation do not need to come from a counselor, per se. A healthy set of letters will include a variety of people. I would highly suggest including a letter from either your counselor or a respected teacher in your submission packet. Extracurricular letters of recommendation ought to come from community leaders depending on the types of activities in which you’ve participated. If this isn’t possible and you have a stronger letter that can come from somewhere else, I’d scrap EC’s. Business letters of rec. are always a plus. </p>
<p>Here’s some personal advice on letters. It’s been a while since I was in high school and applying to college (I’m almost 30), however, I am working on my second masters degree and have had to submit letters of recommendation recently. Here’s the way that I look at it;</p>
<p>Letters should always come from the strongest possible places. Don’t worry about what avenue of life (business, academic, EC’s, etc…) it’s coming from as much as WHO is sending the letter. For instance, let’s say that you were a member of some political group on your high school campus and you worked with local politicians, those letters, if you can go high enough, are worth WAY more in gold than a letter from your science club advisor. </p>
<p>When I applied to graduate school I a BUNCH of people offering to write me letters, I chose the strongest voices. The vice-president of academic research at my institution was my old sociology professor and boss. Her letter of recommendation was WAY more powerful and inclusive than, say, my religious studies professor who had me for one class as an undergrad. </p>
<p>I guess my point here is this, if you can get letters from an individual that bridge multiple areas of your life, those are great letters to have. In the case of the letter I mentioned above, not only did she know me on a personal level but she was my employer and former professor as well. She could attest to my personal, business, AND academic worth all in one letter. </p>
<p>Everyone has their own way of sending admission packets, I’m just giving you some helpful pointers from someone who has a bachelors and, soon, two different masters. I’m also applying to Ph.D. programs next year so I’ll be doing this again.</p>