<p>Some suggested I post my thread here since you all are much more experienced. I was thinking about sending in a letter of rec from my mentor at my internship.... but I know these admissions officers barely have time looking at the required app let alone this extra stuff. Basically, I want to know if it is worth my mentor's time. Also, how should these recs be sent... I'm guessing it's is not as strict as teacher recs because it is additional material. I wanted to get the letter of rec and copy and mail it to the colleges, so that he wouldn't have to do very much.</p>
<p>I'm not a parent, but I think that if you know your mentor well and he would be able to write a strong letter about you as a person (your habits, motivation etc), I think it could help. Your mentor might be able to give some insight to the adcoms that your teachers can't - if you think that's the case, then go ahead and get the letter. You shouldn't really send more than one extra letter unless you really have some extenuating circumstances. There's a story at our admissions office at Hopkins (where I'm a student volunteer) about a applicant who sent in 40 recommendations with her application - letters from politicians and other people who really didn't know her at all, and from what I've heard, not all the letters were even positive. (And for the record, that applicant was rejected)</p>
<p>Some schools offer the chance to send in a "peer" rec. My D sent one from her mentor of 4 years where D has been volunteering as a mentor herself to younger members of the community. The rec was beautifully written and really grasped the growth of D over 4 years. It also tied in to the EC that D had on her application.</p>
<p>My son interned the summer before his SR year with a scientist at USGS researching plate techtonics[ earthquake faults] and his mentor sent letters of recommendation to both his collegues at the colleges S was applying to[ I think this was KEY], as well as to the admissons offices. The result? Acceptances at 12/15 colleges he applied to, including 2 ivys. Now, he did have very high SAT's, great grades his last 3 years of HS, and had an unusual mix of talents and interests [ Geology and classical music] but based on his peers' acceptances, I believe the letters made a BIG difference. If you have the stats to make the "first cut" at a college, then the admissions officers will and do read letters from people you have worked with.
In order to saveyour mentor time, I would advice that you ask if you can have 8x11 envelopes/ folders pre labeled and stamped with the admission offices addresses, so all he has to do is print out the letters[ which he may not want you to see] and mail them. That's what worked for my S. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice... I think I make the cut (SAT I 2140, 800 Math2c, 790 Chem) for most of the schools I am applying to, but my scores arent great for an engineering major at these top schools.... so I guess this letter may give me a push.</p>
<p>What schools are you applying to? When did you take the SAT? Is the 2140 your latest score or a sum of your best sub scores? Are you thinking of taking it again in Oct? Chances are your score will go up, as you will have more a few more months of learning "under your belt".</p>
<p>my list is long... mit, stanford, upenn, cornell, rice, berkeley... now for the more serious ones that I feel I have a fighting chance at carnegie mellon, vanderbilt, ucsd, case western, ut, a&m. </p>
<p>the 2140 is from one seating and it's my best score... I'm thinking of sending in all my sat score reports and apps before I get my oct score report back, and if it's good I'll send that in. I just really think I deserve a 750+ on the math because last time I only missed 2 and got a 730.... I'm just really sour about that.</p>
<p>Think about adding USC [Southern Calif] to your list.They have a superb engineering school and the college is quickly rising in stature due to heavy recrutiment of both top professors and students. S chose it over Dartmouth, Brown, U of Chicago, Wash U. and other colleges. It's attracting top students more than ever.</p>
<p>I think I may start looking into that school... many have suggested the school</p>