<p>My brother's long-term partner is an alum and teacher at a top liberal arts college that my daughter may be interested in applying to. The school is a somewhat of a reach for her. Is it okay to have this person write a letter of recommendation for D? D already has 4 amazing letters of recommendations from English teacher, History teacher and 2 from music
teachers that have known her and worked with her for years. Her interests are music and communications/English. Would the rec be inappropriate from a relative, although technically they are not related yet?<br>
thanks</p>
<p>It’s usually not a good idea to provide more letters of recommendation than they ask for. Ask any admissions counselor and they will tell you that you should provide the number that is requested, not more and not less. She already has 4 letters from people that know her very well as a student, which is what colleges are going to be interested in. A letter from a relative is not really appropriate, and considering she was plenty of letters already, it is not neccessary. If it is a reach for her because of her academic stats an additional letter from someone that doesn’t work with her academically is not going to put her over the top.</p>
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Does he know your daughter? If not, I wouldn’t suggest asking for a rec letter, but it might be helpful to your daughter to meet him as a resource for learning more about the school. He may be able to answer her specific questions, etc. This also serves to make him aware of your daughter’s interest so that he can offer his assistance, as appropriate, should she apply and ultimately enroll.</p>
<p>My cousin is a very, very large donor at a very selective LAC and she also just gave them 2 paintings for their art museum they wanted badly. She told me if my son was interested she would be glad to write a note on his behalf. She told me they “owe her.” </p>
<p>In the end he decided not to go apply but I certainly would have had her write the note of he did. Nothing official though.</p>
<p>Teachers don’t really have all that much influence for admissions. A situation like emilybee’s is a whole different story, THAT would be a letter worth having but it wouldn’t be included in your daughter’s application “package” that she sends to the school but would be handled separately through the cousin. If your daughter applies to the school your brothers partner might mention something to the admins but it wouldn’t have all that much of an impact.</p>