<p>I am an average student 4.5 weighted GPA, although my school does normal GPA out of 4.6, not 4.0, and I have taken every available honors or AP course available to me. I also have some extra curricular activity.</p>
<p>I did some community service for people who are influential in the NYC public school district in the Harlem area (right near Columbia) One of these people has also recently recieved an award from the university.</p>
<p>These people are both going to write letters of recommendation for me so I was wondering how far letters of recommendation from people have have influence in the Area and that know people in Columbia would go.</p>
<p>These people don't seem to have any real status with Columbia, from what you've described. How well do they even know about you and what will they say about you that isn't generic? I'm not even sure why you'd need two letters from these people, if any.</p>
<p>I have a question sort of like GSW389's. I am most likely taking a higher level economics class at Columbia next year (when i'm a senior. The class is a 3000 level one). If I do well in the class how helpful would a reccomendation from the proffesor be and also I am doing an internship at a research lab at Columbia over the summer, would the reccomendation from there carry more weight than a rec from anywhere else?</p>
<p>bidkid, yes, recs from the econ prof and the reasearch prof will certainly help but of course only if they are good recomendations (as in they say something about u and arent generic)</p>
<p>The econ rec could potentially be very helpful. If you do well in the class and take the time to get to know the prof, you might get a very good letter.</p>
<p>The research one is iffy. Over the summer, you probably aren't going to do much of anything notable. Also, you probably won't be working directly with the professor.</p>
<p>they have status, but i thinkk it would be distasteful to drop names, even though they most likely will not see this site. Just assume the people I am talking about have status.</p>
<p>Extra recommendations are just icing on the cake. Colleges use them as a reference to confirm your personality conveyed through your interview, your essays, and your school recommendations. They won't make up for your "average" GPA, but it doesn't hurt to send them.</p>
<p>its better to pick someone to write your recommendation letter who actually knows you pretty well and likes you.. what matters most is what is in the letter, not who wrote it</p>