Extra Recommendation Letters??

College Majors Music Major
1

So, I’m planning on applying to Manhattan School of Music, Eastman School of Music, Mannes School of Music, and New England Conservatory and I’m lucky enough to be in a situation where I have 5 strong recommendation letters available to me.

-I have a teacher I studied with over the summer who’s an alumni from Manhattan School of Music
-my current teacher, who’s the principal violist in the symphonic orchestra where I live and is also an alumni of Manhattan School of Music (added note: I’m his current only pre-universitary student; he teaches undergraduates and graduates only), -my old teacher who I studied with for 4 years who knows me well and has witnessed me playing my first solo, applying for summer programs, etc. He also chatted with the conductor from the undergraduate & graduate orchestra program to allow me to collaborate with the orchestra
-the conductor of said undergraduate & graduate program, whom I’ve studied under for almost 4 years.

  • my English teacher (my best subject). I honestly included her because I saw NEC requires a recommendation letter from a non-musician

I feel like all these people have been great teachers and mentors to me and can write me strong recommendation letters. Now, for the majority of these schools, only 2-3 recommendation letters are required, so my question is: can I send in extra recommendation letters? I’m thinking for the schools who don’t require a non-musician recommendee I’ll exclude my English teacher and maybe my old teacher’s recommendation letter. I’m not sure if I should exclude my old teacher’s letter though since I studied with him for so long… please help.

(Also, I hope I don’t come across like I’m bragging while listing who my recommendees are. I just wanted to give an idea of who they are and their experiences)

2

We are working on recommenders this week too. We are primarily using the common app, but I notice many schools have something like 1 required school counselor recommendation, 1 required teacher recommendation (with an additional 2 optional), 0 other required recommendations (coach, mentor, etc) (additional 2 optional). Or something like that. So you’ll need to check your schools individually and how they accept their recommendations, but I suspect most schools will happily take extra recommendations.

3

I would be careful with submitting too many extra recommendations and only submit additional recommendations if you feel they are going to provide the admissions committee with additional information about who you are that the standard recommendations are not going to address. For example if you are a poor standardized test taker than a recommendation from an academic teacher who can put your scores in context can be useful. Admissions officers tend to only spend a limited amount of time on each file. If your file is filled with extra information they might become frustrated, put it aside or even fail to finish reading it completely. I would aim to submit those recommendations that are from those who clearly know you the best and who understand you as a future student at the place you are applying to. Trying too hard or loading up an application with recommendations can sometimes backfire. Being thoughtful about what you submit will serve you best.