<p>I don't know where I'll be applying yet, I'm only a Junior with a 2150 SAT score, planning on re-taking and Ivy Hopeful. I plan to major on Business Admin. That's what my mom works with, and she says she can get me a recommendation letter from someone really important in the field (I happen to know this person because my mom used to work with when I was in Middle School, he really knows me well, we've had some great conversations, and he's succesfull and known in the field). But then, my dad, who works with publishing, says he can get a VERY famous fiction author (who I've met too) to write me a letter.</p>
<p>Then I got kind of lost, because this author guy is really very famous, multiple NY Times best-seller writer type of guy, and maybe a letter from him can get me into an Ivy if I can bring my SATs to 2300 or something. But then maybe if I state on the application that I'm planning on Business, they will know how important that other guy is or maybe research who he is and because he's involved in the things and sees qualities in my then his letter will count more...</p>
<p>So, I was wondering, is sending two extra letters too pretencious? And which letter would you advise me to pick? Thank you.</p>
<p>You, your mom and your dad need to understand that it is not those guys writing the LORs that are being admitted to college, it’s you. Adcoms are not particularly impressed by who writes the LOR, they are impressed by what is said about you. And they are only impressed if there is a substantive relationship between you and the writer (eg. taught you in a class, mentor, supervisor); ‘friend’, not so much.</p>
<p>My guideline is at most 1 supplemental LOR. But please don’t take this as an endorsement that you should send one from the above associations, because it’s not.</p>
<p>Business Administration is not a field of study at most of the Ivies–which are all so different from one another that it really makes no sense to say you are an “Ivy hopeful”. You need to spend a lot more time exploring colleges and their offerings (and lose the Ivy mindset) to find what’s right for you before you worry about supplemental recommendation letters.</p>
<p>how could having a famous person writing a LOR for someone whom he barely knows is any helpful to gain admission to a top tier school? i hope the schools are smart enough to tell whether the stories are fictional or real in the LOR.</p>