<p>Does anyone know how heavily these are weighed, particularly in respect to Yale admissions?</p>
<p>While I'm not a legacy (my parents had to go to lesser institutions like Harvard and Columbia... yuck), I have a letter of reccommendation from a VERY visible Yale alum. He heads the Beinecke foundation, and his family is responsible for the gorgeous Beinecke library, so I think his letter should carry some weight. In addition, it wasn't an issue of family connections - he only writes two letters a year for applicants he thinks are qualified.</p>
<p>However, in pre-12/15/04 neurotic limbo, I have overthought the issue and am now wondering whether it will be of any use. Do you think his letter will be considered like any other extraneous reccommendation, or make up (in some part) for my lack of legacy? ACK! Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I knew his son when I was in 8th grade (we did a summer exchange program in Taiwan) and stayed with him when I visited Yale, but I had never met Mr. Beinecke nor did he know (or know of) me. I figured it was a long shot but I looked up his number, called his secretary, and asked to schedule an interview. I only explained that I knew his son once he had volunteered to write my recc, so that I could avoid any accusations of nepotism.</p>
<p>Re: your advice, I'm sorry if that was not obviously sarcastic enough. Harvard and Columbia are great schools but I'm not applying to either, so I won't be retracting my statements come December 15th regardless of the decision.</p>
<p>Homeslice, people will tell you that its wrong to get a recommendation from an influential person if they don't know you. The fact of the matter is, if you think it will help you, then by all means go for it. My neighbor grew up with the Head of the Drama department, who upon my neighbor's request, wrote a recommendation for me. I don't know this person, but I felt like it couldn't hurt. After all, it was my neighbor who suggested the idea to me and insisted that it was ok. In the end, you want to do what's going to help you get into Yale. It's not like its dishonest or immoral, you have connections so use them.</p>
<p>I'm sure other people will disagree with me but this is how I see it...</p>
<p>Their are three major aspects that any person writing a letter can provide:</p>
<p>1.) Know the applicant well enough to be able to give the college a positive image that expands their knowledge of the applicant. If the alumni fits into this category, then you should certainly use them.</p>
<p>2.) Is a wonderful writer who can write a great reccomendation as long as they have a moderate knowledge of you. Once again, Alumni that fit in this category work as well.</p>
<p>3.) Is an important figure that knows you to the point where it won't seem like someone you have never met, or is connected to the school. While these letters are not what the school is looking for, they can't ignore a letter from a governor or a professor at the school.<br>
!!!Use these with caution, however, and make sure that the other letters can help the school learn who you are as a person.</p>