<p>Is it a bad idea to submit a supplemental rec to Tufts (a total of three teacher recs)?</p>
<p>Some school say they hate them...others say it can be a good idea.</p>
<p>What's Tufts's opinion?</p>
<p>Rather than just tell you yes or no, I'll try to explain why we caution students from submitting too many recommendations. Hopefully, this will guide you (and others) to being able to answer this question for yourself, since every applicant's circumstances are a little bit different. </p>
<p>Remember that I read more than 950 applications over the course of the season - start from that context. You benefit from being concise, because it becomes easier to remember the important points about you and to create a concise argument on your behalf. But being concise isn't just about what you write, it's about the file as a whole. When your teachers give us the same insight/perspective over and over again, the gets repetitive; the important points can get drowned out and the file can become a bit more of a chore to read. With each additional recommendation you send, the likelihood of that rec becoming repetitive (with respect to the other two) increases. You have to ask yourself how will each of these recommendations tell an Admissions Reader something distinct about who I am? </p>
<p>Three teacher recommendations is usually past that threshold, and at least one rec will be unnecessary and serve to dilute the power of you voice. Not universally true, since nothing in admissions is, but be deliberate in your choices.</p>
<p>gah I sent two teacher recs, instead of one beacuse I assumed Tufts used both Teacher Rec 1 and 2. :( </p>
<p>would adding the guidance counselor recommendation destroy me? Is there any way I can tell the admissions office to ignore one of the recommendation letters? >.<</p>
<p>And we'll read all your recs, Minor6th. Two teacher recs and a counselor rec is reasonable, you've got nothing to fret over.</p>