<p>I currently have 2 teachers, my homeschool evaluator, and a supervisor (from volunteering at the hospital) lined up to write recommendations for me. I'm applying early decision to Brown and regular decision to some others, and I am so confused as to where I should place the people I'm asking letters from in terms of category. As a homeschooler, I consider this supervisor my teacher. Can I add her in the "teacher" recommendation list for some? I don't want her letter sidelined because it's labeled "other". Same for my evaluator.</p>
<p>Most importantly, I don't know whether it's an unsafe idea to have my mom write the counselor recommendation letter. I've read some other posts on here that said it was perfectly fine, but I'm applying to Brown and frankly, I'm afraid that they might not take her letter seriously since it's subjective. On the other hand, she truly has been my counselor for the past, uh, lifetime, academically and otherwise. If not her, it would be my homeschool evaluator.</p>
<p>One more question: is it good to have a lot of recommendations (to the school's limit, for instance) or will that bring down their individual weights?</p>
<p>I recommend, in addition to your outside letters, taking and submitting additional SAT Subject tests. I know this disturbs some homeschool families, and not all agree with me, but imho, it’s just another way to show that someone other than your mommy thinks you understand the material. :)</p>
<p>Does your homeschool evaluator know you well, or is it just someone who reviews your documentation annually?</p>
<p>My son was accepted to a few highly-selective colleges with me as his counselor. </p>
<p>Most schools will tell you how many they want, or give a range, and it isn’t possible to submit more through the online Common App. I wouldn’t recommend circumventing that restriction by sending in additional letters.</p>
<p>If the recommenders have not taught you in an academic environment, they should probably be classified “other”. I believe that the forms themselves are different (not just the names/labels) and the teacher form specifically asks the recommender to rate your intellectual curiosity, classroom contribution, etc. I doubt that the letter would be discounted simply because it is labeled “other” (especially if you have two “normal” recommendations.)</p>
<p>We are going through the process now and my parents wrote my counselor letter. It was the best decision because 1) they know me better than anyone and can give the most honest evaluation; 2) there are additional forms that the counselor needs to fill out that are too time-consuming/specific for anyone other than my parents to fill out. For example, many colleges ask that homeschoolers submit course descriptions or statements of homeschool philosophy. Check with the individual colleges, but I would highly doubt that anyone else but your parents could complete all the forms satisfactorily.</p>
<p>Ditto what warriordaughter said. My mom wrote one recommendation as counselor and gave an honest description. The colleges certainly realize what homeschooling is like to hear from a parent’s prospective.</p>