<p>Hi, I just read one of my two recommendations to a BS/MD program and it's pretty bad, like cookie cutter bad. How much do you think a sub-par recommendation will hurt a pretty solid application. Oh boy</p>
<p>thanks guys,
villaneweva</p>
<p>a bad rec will reeeeeeally hurt you, if not kill you man. but from what u said, it doesn't sound like a "bad" one, it's just apathetic, right? i think an apathetic rec just wouldn't do anything for the better or for the worse for your acceptance. if i were u tho, i'd make sure that the other recs were good, u know?</p>
<p>Yeah, like papucutta said, a bad rec isn't exactly great...but if it's just apathetic (again, like papucutta said.. :) ) it might not be SO bad. my own cousin who's applying right now (i'm a junior) had a REALLY awful rec from his History teacher - and it was BAD! - but his others were brilliant...and he's already got a couple of interviews under his belt. So...just make sure everything else ur sending in (or have already sent?) is impressive. u should be ok :)</p>
<p>well what all the colleges told me is that they always want a really storng recommendation. Not the whole, he is in NHS, hes a good student, he smiles kinda schpeal. More like: He is one in a million. They look for teachers who highly recommend u to the point where they indicate how great of a student they think that u are. I had two of my teachers write excellent letters, and I backed it up with an even better essay. I had it edited by two harvard med students who said it was incredible, better than their own!</p>