<p>I have a graduate from Princeton who is one of the richest people in Seattle and contributes a LOT to the school writing me a recommendation. How far will this take me?</p>
<p>I think it depends on how well the person knows you. If they can't write anything substantial on you, then I'm not sure how much help it would be.</p>
<p>doesnt matter who wrote it...if they dont write anything that will add to your application, then they're useless...even if this guy writes your rec, he may not write anything specific about you, in which case the whole rec would lose validity...</p>
<p>Not sure about Princeton per se and the others can tell you, but as a general rule the answer would be:</p>
<p>"possibly signficant if you are a URM, otherwise worth little, because the elite colleges are increasingly (selectively) using these soft indicators (along with other subjective indicators such as essays, and ECs -except objectively signficant ECs) - as the justification for accepting various URM applicants</p>
<p>However, I will assume you are not referring to a certain gentleman whose name happens to end in the letter S</p>
<p>umm... gates went to harvard not princeton and he dropped out.</p>
<p>I'm well aware of where Gates dropped out, I was not referring to him</p>
<p>from what an adcom once said, they said that u could get the President of USA to write a rec but if it didnt show anything new about ur character or it was generic, it wouldnt help much</p>
<p>The point was: that proabably only an alumni recommendation from someone like a Jeff Bezos could pull off something like the original poster is suggesting</p>
<p>Nah, I have one that trumps all: Woodrow Wilson! I built a time machine, went back in time, had him write a letter of recommendation, and then travelled back to the present. I'm guaranteed admission!</p>
<p>lol!!
And if you're not accepted for having a rec from ol' Woody Woo, building a time machine is still pretty darn impressive! :D</p>
<p>lol y didnt u just ask albert einstein?</p>
<p>I did, but I couldn't understand what he was saying! Crazy accent...</p>
<p><a href="http://www.anecdotage.com/pics/einstein.jpg%5B/url%5D">http://www.anecdotage.com/pics/einstein.jpg</a></p>
