<p>I'm considering applying to Harvard SCEA this fall, and I am confused as to whether it's okay to send letters of recommendation from people who obviously have a vested interest in your acceptance. My first cousin graduated from Harvard in 2011, and I am very close to her. She did extremely well at Harvard, and would be not only glowing in her recommendation but specific in her reasons why she thinks I'm qualified. Would it be helpful to send a rec from a successful alum, even if I'm related to her? (If it helps, I'll be trying to get a second additional rec from the director of my state's Youth and Government program).</p>
<p>Hi Shyams, </p>
<p>That’s not really very useful. I would stick with the 2 recommendations from your teachers/mentors. The additional rec from the Y&G program on the other hand, would not be a bad addition if he/she can write in detail about your contributions/performance while in the program.</p>
<p>Although your cousin could write you a glowing recommendation, her letter is probably NOT the kind that Harvard would project up on to a large screen for the entire committee to read. See: [Guidance</a> Office: Answers From Harvard’s Dean, Part 3 - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/harvarddean-part3/]Guidance”>Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 3 - The New York Times)</p>
<p>"Recommendations from secondary school teachers and counselors are extremely important at Harvard and at many other colleges, particularly those with selective admissions processes. Faced with more academically qualified applicants than places in the freshman class, our admission officers review the two required teacher recommendations and the counselor report with great care, often commenting on them in writing on “reader sheets” in each application.</p>
<p>We often project the recommendations themselves onto large screens so that all members of the Admissions Committee can see them during the subcommittee and full committee review processes in February and March.</p>
<p>Recommendations can help us to see well beyond test scores and grades and other credentials and can illuminate such personal qualities as character and leadership as well as intellectual curiosity, creativity, and love of learning. Along with essays, interviews, and other materials in the application, recommendations can offer evidence of an applicant’s potential to make a significant difference to a college community and beyond.</p>
<p>The value of an additional letter or two depends on how well the person knows you, not the person’s profession or who he or she might be.</p>
<p>One of the best letters we ever received over the years was written by the school’s custodian who supervised the student in the school’s work program under very difficult circumstances, when everyone was tired at the end of the school day. The letter supported the other positive information in the application about how the student always made everyone around him better — and it made up for sparse recommendations from the over-worked teachers and counselors at that school. The strong personal qualities and character noted by the custodian were confirmed by the remarkable difference the student made to others during his college career and the difference he continues to make today."</p>
<p>“Would it be helpful to send a rec from a successful alum, even if I’m related to her?”</p>
<p>No, WCU is right. This won’t be helpful to you. At best it’s a distraction from recs that will matter.</p>