Rec Letter

Hi,

If I am submitting a research supplement, and my mentor supplies a recommendation letter via slideroom, should the letter also be submitted as an “optional rec” on the recommendation site? Don’t know if this will be redundant or if the supplement is looked at separately by someone other than the application reader.

Thanks!

It’s probably a good idea to make sure that the recommender submits it under optional rec on the Common App just to be safe.

Do not waste the optional letter slot on the letter that’s already coming in the supplement. Ideally get another diverse letter as the optional one. With all due respect, the other answer you got was poorly informed because MIT doesn’t use the CA.

I’m not even sure if they would look at the Rec Letter included in your supplement. You should probably contact MIT Admission Officers about how they would deal if they were looking at an application with a Rec Letter seemingly sneaked into the supplement.

@ObitoSigma For the research supplement at least, slideroom allows you to attach a letter of rec from your research mentor.

@fretfulmother Do they only allow one optional rec? If that’s the case, I’ll only use my research mentor rec in the supplement

No, of course not. But it’s hard to send more than the two extra letters, one in slide room and one “optional”. And those are not the same letter. That’s a guidance letter, two teachers, research mentor, and one more. You can even send more but it’s hard because they discourage it.

Wait so just to clarify: My research supplement recommendation will be reviewed by the admissions office and does not need to be submitted as my optional rec as well, correct?

Correct, as far as I know. You can also contact the Admissions Office and ask them.