<p>My question is pretty much the title. My college app could have up to 7 letters and as of right now I'm going to use any from 4-5... They would all be very good, but would that be too many?</p>
<p>Yes. No one wants to read all that. Try to identify three that would be unique, and send those.</p>
<p>So lets say if I had problems in a core subject when younger and had unprecedented growth in that subject would it be a good idea to use my teacher I had for helping me in that subject?</p>
<p>Many colleges will tell you how many letters are needed. One more than that might be okay. Too many will not be okay as it can annoy the admissions counselor.</p>
<p>Ideally you want one from math/science teacher, one from english/hist/etc teacher and your GC. After than you can add one if there is a good reason, like it was from someone who knows you or mentored you in a special activity, like research for instance. I don’t see the example that you give as one where a letter is particularly useful because they will see your grades in that subject already. But if you feel it is special ( you say unprecedented growth, so you are working at a higher level than anyone else) then go ahead.</p>
<p>After one extra, you are infringing on the adcom’s time and it won’t make you look good. You should present yourself and your credentials in your application package and not have to rely on all these extra letters.</p>
<p>I think n+1 might be OK, but n+2 is too many.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice. I will probably have 3 teacher recommendations (I want one from my accounting teachers since that’s what I’m gonna major in. And maybe, not sure yet, if ill get one from my youth group leader.</p>
<p>That’d be four – and that’s too many. Max should be 2 from teachers and one supplemental (either your 3rd teacher, youth grp ldr, coach, mgr, etc). Why? Because they won’t be able to insert any anecdote that will be different than what’s in the first two rec letters.</p>
<p>True… Which btw T26E4, if I am an athlete that would participate in my sport, if admitted, should I have one from a coach?</p>
<p>“should I have one from a coach?” Who knows? You need to discern the PURPOSE of rec letters. It’s not a tally sheet of people you can convince to say nice things about you. Read this:
[Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>If you have 2 teacher rec letters, one guid counselor letter and maybe one supplemental – whom do you choose? Who can give a new wrinkle to the readers that’s not already stated by the others? Is it the coach or the youth grp ldr or the EC supervisor or the shift manager? </p>
<p>Is the coach > youth grp ldr? Who knows? You decide. But it should be only one. </p>
<p>DO NOT send 2 supplementals.</p>
<p>It would be a huge faux pas to send more than just one extra, don’t do that to yourself.</p>
<p>Remember that at most colleges, adcoms have only about five minutes to read an applicant’s entire application, including essays. In most cases, the extra letter(s) will be skimmed at best - at worst they will be an irritant to the adcom and ignored.</p>
<p>There is a slight, remote chance that if your application happens to be a borderline case that is debated by committee, the extra letter will actually factor into the decision. However, since it should be your third or fourth best LOR, its impact will be minimal even at this point.</p>
<p>An adage is popular among adcoms, “The thicker the file, the thicker the student.”</p>