"Optional" Letters of Recommendation??? What should I do?

Applying to College
1

<p>Many of the colleges I'm applying to say "We require 2 LOR but accept up to 5", or something like that. How many letters should I send? I have 4, all from my teachers, so on the common app.</p>

<p>1 - Science research teacher, I'm sure it's a great letter, involved in and out of the classroom
2 - 11th grade English teacher, advisor for two clubs I have leadership positions in
3 - 11th grade precalc teacher, could be a nice counterbalance for my low SAT math scores, not sure if its as great as say #1
4 - 10th grade chemistry teacher, tough teacher, thinks well of my research</p>

<p>Do they want more letters than the requirement, or do they really not?</p>

<p>Some of the schools are: Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, SUNY Stony Brook</p>

2

<p>If they help you, I think you should definitely send them. Worse case scenario: admissions doesn’t read all of them, but they usually do.</p>

3

<p>You only need the ones required. When they say they will accept more, you can consider sending more if the letters provide something new but if they would just be another letter from a teacher saying the same types of things as other teachers who supply the first two, then the extra ones will have little to no additonal impact.</p>

4

<h1>1 and #2 are the ones I’m definetly sending. Maybe I’ll send #3 if they want another one?</h1>