<p>Hi, everyone!</p>
<p>As a rising senior, I've been pouring over hundreds of threads on this site looking for admissions tips...two things that I consistently stumble upon are the need for outstanding essays and the importance of good recommendations. So, my question is simply: What is a "good" letter of recommendation? It would probably be really helpful to get a letter from an alum, but what if that's not possible? Also, I've read on many school websites that colleges want letters from guidance counselors. My counselor knows me very well, but she's not exactly the best writer. I hate to be picky and demeaning, but I want my application to be as strong as possible! Any suggestions?</p>
<p>A good letter of recommendation would be from a teacher or mentor who knows you very well and can comment on your abilities and personality from an interesting, enlightening personal perspective. I don't think eloquence will be nearly as important as the rec's content. Getting a letter from an alum or not would make no difference, really. </p>
<p>MIT</a> Admissions | Info For Schools & Counselors: Writing Evaluations is a good link from MIT that discusses what kinds of recs they like, and I think it would probably be similar for most other schools. Hope that helped. :)</p>
<p>^above + If someone reads it and says, "That's no one other than PinkSummer09!" it's a good one.</p>
<p>Getting a letter from an alum can be very important in getting into some of the top sororities at schools where that sort of thing is important. Getting a letter from an alum has no bearing on getting into college, though. Colleges care about what you can do in college, not how socially connected your family happens to be. And for those colleges that DO give favor to their big donors and their friends, they would have already heard about you anyway w/o the letter.</p>