<p>As far as I know, Stanford is the only school that emphasized they prefer to receive only two recommendations and reluctant to read the additional recommendations. Is there any other collges specifically stated that they only want to see a maximum of two recommendations?</p>
<p>Of all the colleges my two kids looked at Stanford was the only one. It was really annoying as my older son ran out of computer science courses freshman year in high school and the people who could really speak about his abilities were not in his high school.</p>
<p>I sent Stanford an additional recommendation (from a college CS professor, in fact) and they read it. I called my regional admissions representative in advance to ask if it would be okay to have an additional recommendation sent by snail mail, since the two Common App ones were submitted electronically, and he said it would be fine. So sometimes it’s worthwhile to call and ask about these general rules if you feel it would be important in your particular case, and if the additional letter isn’t just from another high school teacher.</p>
<p>Stanford is also the only I know that makes any kind of deal about it. Many say “two is sufficient” or something to that effect, but pull up short of saying “don’t send anymore than two!”</p>
<p>I agree with zenkoan, that if you feel there’s a reason a third letter would serve a particular purpose, call your regional rep at Stanford and ask specifically.</p>
<p>My kids both sent three letters to their schools that required only two. Neither was applying to Stanford though.</p>