Some universities I’m thinking of applying to ask for an optional non-academic letter of recommendation. The problem is, I’ve been studying in China for the past two years, and so all the volunteer work and extracurriculars I’ve done outside of school were all in Chinese hospitals or communities.
I don’t know if I should ask the director of a hospital I volunteered at for a recommendation letter, because she doesn’t speak a drop of English. If she writes the letter in Chinese, will the admissions officers find a way to translate it somehow?
I would ask the doctor if he could provide a translation (perhaps someone at the hospital can help him) that can be sent along with his letter of recommendation. I would not count on admission officers taking the time and effort to get a supplemental letter of recommendation written in Chinese translated. If the doctor cannot get the letter translated, I would not send it.
The doctor does not need to get it translated. Nor for that matter, will the admissions office “find a way.” And while not asked, the applicant also cannot do the translation. The translation, and any monetary cost, is the applicant’s responsibility.
Every college has international applicants, and every college gets recs that were originally written in a foreign language. The college in question may have its own procedure, but in general, they will ask for the original rec plus the translation.
If there is someone in the hospital administration that can do the translation for low/no cost, that would generally work. Otherwise, s/he will need to pay for a translator.