<p>So… I got recs (plural… not singular) from a non-required source (ie, not teacher/counselor rec, this one was from a medical researcher).</p>
<p>And he kinda personalized each letter with the specific school’s name with their admissions office’s address, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Well, he wrote me a letter for Tufts, but in the end I decided not to apply there, so I stashed his Tufts letter somewhere in the bowels of my room.</p>
<p>Then my little bro finds it, opens it, and asks me why I trashed a rec for Brown, so I looked at the rec, and it was addressed to Brown… but in the Tufts envelope :o</p>
<p>So now i’m thinking that the Brown envelope could have contained a rec that was addressed to a different school (best case scenario, only Brown and Tufts go mixedf up, worst case, EVERY school got mishmashed).</p>
<p>So… any of u all think Brown would react negatively to a letter that’s addressed to Tufts? Or even Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, JHU for that matter?</p>
<p>call each school and ask them to discard the recs</p>
<p>...wha?!?! I don't know if I should do that...</p>
<p>The recs should be really powerful because they recount my experience in HIV research.</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry about that -- it could've just as easily been the rec-writer's mistake as yours, so they probably won't mind.</p>
<p>Have you called the admin office? Call them. I'm sure they'll have sympathy for you. Explain to them what you explained on this post.</p>
<p>A mistake on the part of the rec writer (wrong name of college) is not the same as if a student had the wrong college in his own "Why I want to go to X college" essay. Colleges also know that rec writers are sending copies of their recs to more than one school for you. I truly believe this is OK and not like YOU wrote it. </p>
<p>I am posting mostly to share one example to ease your concern....</p>
<p>My daughter, who coincidentally attends Brown, had a history teacher as one of her rec writers. This teacher nicely tried to individualize each rec by using the college's name in the body of the letter several times, by changing it on his word processor (unlike most rec writers who just make multiple copies for all your colleges). Well after all my D's apps were in, we noticed that in the body of this teacher's rec, he had changed the name of the college each time he mentioned one . BUT he missed the very last time in the letter and so EVERY college rec he sent has "Yale" in the final paragraph, though the right college name elsewhere in the body of the letter. It had no affect on her admissions...she got into every school BUT Yale (ironically, lol), and waitlisted at Princeton. So, it was OK...you will be too. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Colleges know that you applied to more than one school. Don't worry.</p>
<p>thanks guys! and thanks soozievt for that story!</p>
<p>yeah, youre fine. they will know it was the rec writers mistake.</p>