<p>Hey everyone.
My question is what the title says. After having fulfilled the requirements for teacher recommendations for schools, how many extra recommendations is too many?
Neither of the two I'm contemplating would provide redundant information. They don't come from school teachers, and they're both very relevant to my proposed field of study.
One is a lot more personal and detailed, and probably enthusiastic. However, the second comes from an ivy department chair who's very renowned in his field and who is more familiar with my /work/ than the first one, if not necessarily my personality.
I really want to send both, just to have some balance, but I know that too many extra recs is unwise.
The list of schools is:
Brown, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Swarthmore, UChicago, Penn, Stanford, Pomona.
Thoughts?</p>
<p>Well, if they provide significant information, then why not? My only question is, shouldn’t your required recs cover the personal aspect?</p>
<p>It wouldn’t be too many if they both add something that you otherwise wouldn’t get from the regular teacher recs. Supplemental recs are good if another person knows you in a context outside of the classroom, and that can provide new insight for the admissions people as to what sort of a person you are–since teachers (for the most part, know you inside of class). Of course some teachers may know you in a context outside of class, a supplemental letter could still help.</p>
<p>My question to the OP is, how are you formatting the letters? There doesn’t seem to be a form for supplemental letters. Are you just going to have your supplemental recommenders just write a letter and mail it? Or are you also using that teacher evaluation sheet?</p>
<p>Check what each college says first. Many that require rec letters state that they don’t won’t any more than required; in fact they sometimes state it as a command that implies that if you send more it will be a factor used against you. Then some that require a certain number accept more.I cannot say what the ones you list do.</p>