Supplemental Recs

<p>I know colleges generally want 2 recs from 11th/12th grade teachers and 1 from the counsellor, but what about extra recs. I was considering getting recs from the my boss at my internship, my coach for an academic team at school, and my SAT tutor (she has written recs for students who get into very good schools). I know good recs and essays can help make up for iffy GPAs and scores, but will colleges look at these recs as equal with my teacher recs or will schools throw them out? I know this is something i should be asking the induvidual schools, but has anyone know based on their own experience?</p>

<p>They will consider them. I suggest going through with it.</p>

<p>Colleges usualy dont care much for letters not from teachers. These letters are intended to give a college a view of your academic capabilities from a human point of view instead of grades and gpa's.</p>

<p>How about some college professors we met during a summer school program?</p>

<p>Unless that professor taught you and you recieved some sort of academic credit for it I wouldnt use it over say... your english teacher.</p>

<p>anyone send in extra recs from people like bosses and coaches? do you think it helped, or that the school discarded them? o and YA10, a rec from a boss can tell your aptitude in a non class room setting. last time i checked, a college wants you to be successful in the real world, not just the class room.</p>

<p>yeah I'm looking into doing that too.
I want a supp. rec. from a 9th grade history teacher who is the newspaper adviser... which I have been involved in since 10th grade, and will be the editor of next year.</p>

<p>i wouldnt do like a lot of recs, that could see like you are trying to over-impress, which if i were an adcom, i would be like, "ughhh more letters to readdd". that said, im also looking to get a rec from my research mentor, but he knows me in a different way than my teachers, so i would think it would add to my app. dont just add recs for the hell of it though. thats not a good idea. and also, check if your schools accept them first.</p>

<p>Hum, a couple of schools even categorically state they don't look forward to additional recommendations ( Their names slip my mind, but I'll certainly cross-check ). However, do you guys suppose it will hurt if I send in just one extra rec from my classmate ? For instance, I intend to shoot for Swarthmore, and they ask for only three rec letters (one from couselor and two from teachers) ? Thanks a bunch :)</p>

<p>...bump...</p>

<p>do not send any additional recs except for in really really really exceptional circumstances. it just annoys colleges</p>

<p>don't have your SAT tutor write one. that would be a bad idea.</p>

<p>Is it a good idea to get a recommendation from my ceramic teacher. I have been taking the ceramic class with the same teacher for the past two years. I plan to continue taking it in my third year. She is also the sponsor for my Art club. She really knows my personality and study habbit.</p>

<p>Like ReninDetroit said, you should not get your SAT tutor to write a rec. While he/she might know you well, its not something you want to advertise to colleges.</p>

<p>but if you send in say, five recs, how do you know they won't stop after reading the first two or three?</p>

<p>Very witty question, indeed ! I don't suppose adcoms are cruel enough to ignore the other recs after they read the two ones from your main teachers. </p>

<p>So how 'bout my situation ? One extra rec from classmate can't hurt, rite ? :)</p>

<p>Pygmalion, some colleges like dartmouth want a friend to write a rec. others, i dont know. </p>

<p>i just wanted to know if anyone sent in recs from like internship bosses, work bosses, EC sponsers/non-athletic coaches, etc and if they think it helped. i was only curious about what people think about my SAT tutor because she says she did recs for other students in the past and they get into places like hopkins.</p>

<p>only send an extra rec if the mandatory ones leave out something that you think is really important. otherwise, the college will be left wondering why you felt the need to pad your application like that...doesn't show very good self-esteem unless it's a special circumstance</p>

<p>I submitted an extra rec for 2 of the schools I applied to (EA) and got accepted to both of them. The rec was from an advisor for a club I was in; I also worked for him the summer before senior year, so he knew me pretty well. I thought it would add something extra to the app that the teachers who wrote my other recs didn't know about. Who knows if the rec was a big factor in the decision or not, but it obviously didn't hurt me. (Of course, this is just anecdotal evidence.)</p>