<p>Posted this in the Parent's Forum and thought I'd see if anyonw here has any insight.</p>
<p>I was recently asked this question and thought I'd see what others think about the topic. Some schools require only one teacher rec--UNC,for example. High school will automatically send 2 recs along with the transcript, counselor statement, etc. This student would like to include a rec from a local official who can speak to the kid's leadership and ability to work with others. On the one hand, we hear that colleges want to have lots of info to shed light on who the student really is and on the other hand, we are told to follow instructions. Obviously don't want to turn off the admissions people.... </p>
<p>How many is too many? When they require only one, is 3 or 4 too many?? Any thoughts?</p>
<p>"How many is too many? When they require only one, is 3 or 4 too many?? Any thoughts?"</p>
<p>Many schools will tell you that the thicker files go to the bottom of the stack. The reason they ask for a specific number is that they are already overworked with the required number of docs in a file. Last year UNC got over 19,000 applications. If you consider the required recs alone, that's 57,000 recs to read plus all the other required docs that are in the files. Even with a staff of 15 (and I doubt it's that big) that would mean 3800 reads per admissions rep. If some files are read more than once....you can do the math.</p>
<p>I was at an info session once where the Adcom said that they felt that excess recs were trying to hide a weakness somewhere else, and that if the required recs weren't strong enough to convince them to admit, the extra recs were going to confirm their decision to deny admission.</p>
<p>My best advice would be to either email or call the Admissions Department and ask if it will hurt you to have an extra recommendation. As competitive as the process has become, the last thing you want to do is negatively prejudice yourself by NOT following directions.</p>