How important are recommendation letters?

<p>I have been home schooled for the past 2 years and due to that fact, I don't have anyone that can write me a letter of recommendation. I am solid on my ACT(30), SAT(1820), and GPA(3.76), and I have great extracurriculars, so is a letter of recommendation really that important?</p>

<p>Come on out of 41 people, none can respond?</p>

<p>Some schools require letters, and some don’t; also, some specify exactly which teachers they want to hear from, and others leave it up to you. If you’re applying to schools in that last category–MIT, for instance, requires one letter from a science teacher and one from a humanities teacher–contact the admissions departments to ask what they expect of home-schooled applicants. Lots of kids are home-schooled, so they should have a policy in place.</p>

<p>If you have “great extracurriculars,” then you should solicit a letter from one of the adults you’ve been involved with in those activities: youth program director, coach, etc. Those people can’t testify to your academic talent but they might be able to speak to your integrity, work ethic, leadership potential, or other traits of character.</p>

<p>My kids both homeschooled, and we had no problems getting letters for them. Online classes, math coaches, employers, volunteer coordinators. You must have some adult in your life who can write one. If not, then your parents should address that issue in the counselor letter? </p>

<p>Schools are very flexible for homeschoolers.</p>

<p>Are you a senior? This is leaving this issue to the last minute!</p>