Would it be okay to send two supplemental recommendations, even though Yale implies they only want one on their website? They would be from two different perspectives (research mentor and coach).
Would sending too many negatively impact my application in any way?
Yes, sending too many will negatively affect you. Do not send them more than they ask for. Part of being a tippy top applicant is the most basic of ideas— if you can’t convey all the necessary information through the app, your essay, your teacher recs, your activities section, (needed) additional information, and allowable supplements, then you probably aren’t a good fit.
Any additional rec you submit needs to shed new light on you. Good supplemental recs might be from an employer, priest, coach, etc…who can add details about you that a teacher wouldn’t really have an opportunity to see.
ETA: Just had a look, and as far as I can tell, Yale only wants two teacher recs and one counselor rec. it does say you can submit an additional rec, but certianly not two. And it also seems to suggest that an additional rec is best coming from a research mentor. At any rate, it definitely says that you should submit an additional rec only if it substantially adds to your app. So if it’s a coach rec saying you’re a good team player, I am not sure how much value that adds. If it’s more about how your team was totally inspired by your effort or something that really stood out, then maybe so.
+1 to what Linda says. DS debated, for some time, whether to send a supplemental rec from his research mentor/partner with whom he received authorship credit in a peer-reviewed journal. He finally decided that since this person knew him in a very different light than his teachers, and could testify to his grit and tenacity (he jumped through a number of hoops to be accepted at an internship that explicitly didn’t accept HS students and jumped through additional legal hoops to work in what was deemed a dangerous environment before turning 18).
That said, it was still a close call. Less is often more.
I agree with the both @Lindagaf and @IxnayBob
They imply no such thing - they out-and-out state it.
They further go on to state (in this case, if would concede to the use of the word “imply”) that if you must send in an additional rec that it should be meaningful and add something that the other recs do not.
https://admissions.yale.edu/supplementary#recs
Otherwise, there’s an old adage: the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.
“Otherwise, there’s an old adage: the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.” Well, I was accepted despite having too may letters of rec. submitted on my behalf! I guess the Yale AOs like “thick” kids! And while I believe - and appreciate! - all the advice that @lindgaf and @IxnayBob so generously share with applicants, it seems that the Yale students I go to school with are so multi-dimensional, have such such multi-faceted interests, hobbies, extracurriculars, etc., that submitting more than two high school teachers’ and one guidance counsellor’s letters of recommendation is a pretty typical thing for many applicants. There are the student athletes, artists, musicians, scientists, writers, computer scientists, etc., who have been involved in their activities for such a long time, and accomplished so much prior to applying to college, that applications that do not contain letters from these students’ teachers, research mentors, and so on, would seem incomplete without them. But as IxnayBob, Gibby, Lindagaf, skieurope, and many others, who provide thoughtful guidance to students using CC repeatedly state, the letters will only be a nuisance to AOs unless they reveal something different about the applicant that the required three letters do not reveal.
One more piece of advice from Yale.
https://admissions.yale.edu/advice-putting-together-your-application#supplementary
@ipodtouch129 - If there are things that you do outside of school that define you in some essential way and that your teachers and guidance counselors can’t address in their letters of recommendation, then those are the additional letters that AOs will want to read. Those things will most likely have nothing to do with school, or the pursuit of accomplishments that support your bid to gain admission to selective colleges. They will be activities that you pursued, and did really well, for their own sake, or out of necessity. Maybe they involved an after-school job, taking care of younger siblings so your parents could work, community service, environmental work, volunteering as a middle school soccer coach, etc., Those additional letters will not “rave” about the things you accomplished in high school. They will reveal something different about you - your character, your maturity, your social engagement - that teachers’ and guidance counsellors’ letters can’t.
Having spoken with admissions in my role as an active interviewer I can reaffirm that the admissions officers do not want additional letters to read which they will begrudgingly do but not be happy about. It is the applicant’s job to craft a full picture of him/herself and if a teacher can’t elaborate on an important activity then that is something that should be addressed in an essay or interview. I suggest to students that ask that they should make a list of important character traits, activities, and accomplishments and then figure out where to have that conveyed to admissions using their essays, interview, and even suggestions to the required three letter writers. I am thrilled as an interviewer when a kid says that something is important to them and tells me they would like it conveyed to admissions since they saw no other good place to have that included. These admissions officers have 35,000 applications to read over a few months and understandably don’t appreciate the idea that more is better. I can’t recall ever discussing my application with my classmates as a current student but I am doubtful of the @zoebrittany claim that submitting 4+ letters of recommendation is a “pretty typical thing for many [successful] applicants”.
@YaleGradandDad - All I am trying to do is answer the OP’s question based on my own and my classmates’ experiences as applicants. How many current Yale students are on this thread answering questions? Parents, grandparents, and alums are all doing their very best to be helpful to prospective students. My experiences - as an applicant, accepted student and classmate of students, who of course discuss their applications - are also relevant. And as I stated above, in agreement with all the alum interviewers and others who advised the OP NOT to send additional letters, that “the letters will only be a nuisance to AOs unless they reveal something different about the applicant that the required three letters do not reveal.” And as you state above, this seems to be the case with some of the applicants you interview who have told you “that something is important to them and tells me they would like it conveyed to admissions since they saw no other good place to have that included.” The additional letters sent on my behalf were sent without my knowledge. But evidently they weren’t counted against me by AOs, although I am sorry they had to spend more time reading them. And that is something I thought I should share with anxious applicants.