<p>Currently, I have three teacher recommenders (APUSH, AP Chem, AP enviro) and an additional peer recommendation from a current Harvard student. I really feel like the latter will be helpful, but for the teacher recommendations, should I only have 2? I really don't want to go overboard with this. I read my AP Enviro teacher's one and it was glowing (one of the best students she's ever had, my dedication, grasped the college-level material quickly and helped others, talked about my art/the organization I founded, etc). My AP Chem teacher doesn't know me as well but she said she tried to make hers perfect as well.</p>
<p>What should I do!? Should I keep all 3 teacher recs or take away one of them (and if so, which)? Thank you!</p>
<p>^^ They ask for two teacher recs so you should probably show them you know how to follow instructions. Can you imagine what their lives would be like if 36,000 kids sent an extra teacher rec?</p>
<p>Also, you should really rethink the Harvard student rec. You could use it for Dartmouth but Harvard has no interest in peer recs.</p>
<p>I agree with Falcon. I think that letter from a current Harvard student is a bad idea. I’m an alum who used to interview, and I stopped doing that because it seemed Harvard barely cared about my opinion, which they’d asked for! </p>
<p>I also think a letter from a third teacher is a good idea only if the three letters present three distinct views of you. If you could communicate the same information to the admissions committee with only two letters, you should do so.</p>
<p>More does not equal “better” recommendations…getting the IMPACT associated with HIGH quality recommendation is much more meaningful than trying to have superfluous recommendations that may actually diminish the strength of your application…on the other hand, if you are submitting an extraordinary music or art supplement…it is usually of great import to get a great recommendation from your maestro/teacher to vouch for your TALENT…</p>
<p>thanks everyone! i’ll scrap the third teacher rec (by the way, falcon, they ask for 2 teacher recs but they allow 3). </p>
<p>also, about the letter from the harvard student, i just thought that he knows me very well and could write about how i’m a perfect fit for the harvard today. and, sikorsky, i just feel like the admissions process is so rigorous that your opinion mattered, but perhaps it just couldn’t make up for meager student accomplishments. but i digress! i recently visited harvard with this friend, visited the dorms and classes and learned about life at harvard and seemed to blend in seamlessly. do you still think this is a bad idea?</p>
<p>I do not think that people who’ve been admitting applicants to Harvard for years–every year choosing about 2000 students from a pool of about 35,000 (of whom, literally tens of thousands are very well qualified)–really care whether your friend who’s been at Harvard for a couple of semesters thinks you’re a perfect fit. </p>
<p>I am not looking for sympathy when I say that the alumni interview–a part of the applicant’s file that the College actually requested–is in all but the rarest of cases the least important part of the application by a large margin. It just is. And I think the unsolicited letter from a current Harvard undergraduate is going to carry even less weight. Unless it makes people roll their eyes–which I am concerned is a real possibility.</p>
<p>Sorry to be so blunt. That’s just my opinion, of course, but it’s the only one I’ve got. (Well…on this subject. I have a lot of opinions on other subjects…)</p>
<p>I agree with Sikorsky. Look at it from another perspective. Every Harvard student who has a sibling applying could write a similar letter for their brother or sister. Would it matter at all in the applications process? Absolutely not! Which is why Harvard students do not write letters for their siblings, as it’s frowned upon in the Admissions Office.</p>
<p>Wholeheartedly agree with you on those points! I’m just gonna go with the traditional two-teacher recommendations. thanks so much everyone, i really do appreciate the help! :)</p>
<p>thank you!!! and if you don’t mind, i just have two more small questions (i’m very sorry, i’m submitting my application this weekend and, as you can imagine, i’m VERY nervous!!)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>my school has grown over the past few years and has begun offering more APs since were offered when i first entered the school (i.e.: they implemented AP compsci and psychology but I couldn’t take them because they were either scheduling conflicts or not offered to my grade). on the school report that my guidance counselor is submitting, however, it says all of the courses currently offered (even those I wasn’t able to take, but Harvard wouldn’t know that). he said it shouldn’t be an issue, but if schools use this to determine if you’ve taken the highest-level courses offered (which i have), wouldn’t that be a REALLY big issue if I havent taken 4-5 of the APs on that list?</p></li>
<li><p>i founded an NPO and i wanted to expand on it in the additional info section of the common app. do you think bullets are okay?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>again, i TRULY appreciate your responses; they mean the world! thank you :)</p>