Hey guys, so I’m applying EA to Harvard.
Over the summer, I worked for a congresswoman and I gained a solid letter of recommendation from the office I worked in. I also did research at a Peace and Conflict studies center over the summer, and my professor that I worked alongside wrote me a letter and already submitted it through the Common App.
Do you think submitting the congressional letter of rec and the professor’s rec are both too much? I feel that it would show that I’m dedicated to going into a Gov major at Harvard–and a unique perspective as well, perhaps?
What do you think? Should I mail the congressional rec in tomorrow? I’m a bit too worried that it’s too much
IMHO, five Letters of recommendation (2 teachers, 1 GC, I research professor, 1 congresswoman) is too much!
My advice: Hold onto the congresswoman’s letter in case you need to write an update letter should you be deferred. (Everyone who presses the submit button for SCEA thinks/hopes they will be admitted. However, the reality is that the majority of SCEA applicants – 82% to 84% of them – are deferred. Should you be deferred, it’s good to have additional ammunition in your back-pocket that you can send to Admissions.)
True that! Thanks for quick advice! I was just getting ready to put the stamp on the envelope…jeez.
I guess I’ll wait then-just like the other 82-84%. Thanks!
If the letter from the professor was a good one, and reflected duties that were significant, then that should be a great addition to your application.
You said the congresswoman’s "office’ wrote a letter. Did you do anything significant there? I mean, handle a district or something? I assume that a letter from the “office” about your work habits and that kind of thing would not convey anything earth-shattering or new about you that teachers and the professor have not already conveyed.
If any letter offers crucial and previously unavailable info on who you are, it is possible that it could help. But in that case I would call admissions for advice. Admissions officers work hard and are very busy and if everyone submitted that many letters, their jobs would be harder.
That said, I know at least one applicant who submitted two additional letters (in an arts supplement) that were crucial to her admittance.
The conventional wisdom is to not send in LORs that repeat what other LORs have said. The aggregate affect is that your application gets watered down. Since the congressional office’s letter won’t add intimate insight about you (remember, you’ve already listed the position in your application elsewhere), I’d omit it.