I see some colleges, like Casewestern, allow you to send in 4 teacher recommendations and 2 other recommendations. I feel this is a crazy amount and find it funny how they allow that many letters to be submitted.
Is it beneficial, even to the slightest to have multiple LORs? I plan on getting an LOR from a science class and a math class. My optional letter is probably going to come from my coach.
I have a question on my other optional letter - is it worth submitting 2 optional letters, first of all? And, if so, should I submit one from my research PI or one from a doctor I shadowed and know well personally? He can speak to a lot of my abilities and even offered to write me one. I plan on applying BSMD and premed.
I’d probably send one from your research PI over your coach. The MD LoR might be OK if s/he knows your work, but if it is simply a family friend who allowed you to shadow, it’s not going to be meaningful Just because you can send multiple letters does not mean that you should
Supplemental recs which add something that is not covered in a teacher’s rec is fine, but know that more is not always better. The AO will spend ~ 10 minutes reading your application. Sending more stuff does not mean s/he will spend more time on your application; it just means s/he will skim some parts.
l agree, more is not necessarily better, unless there is some special circumstance where the additional ones would explain something that needs explaining or add a whole different dimension than your other LORs.
@skieurope Thanks for the response! Out of the top 4 activities on my Common App, 3 of them are research related. I’m wondering if it’d be too much if I get a PI to talk about my research as well. If I can get my coach to show the sports side of me, which is my 2nd activity on common app btw, then I feel it’ll be a more holistic picture .
I probably won’t send more than 2 teacher reqs then. For the MD, he knows me well for the last 5 years as I’ve been teammates with his son and is a good friend of ours. Would his input, being a department head at our university, have a significant impact if he writes on my behalf?
Not needed. Your activities can speak for themselves. Unless you are a recruited athlete or an Olympic medalist, there is no reason to submit a coach’s rec.
By virtue of his position, no. His rec will only help if he can talk about you and your abilities and how you can be strong addition to the class. It has to be more than “I play golf with the parents and the kid seems really nice.”
There is an adage: the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.