Hi,
Say you have a teacher who is an alumnus of Columbia, would it help your chances if you ask him for a recommendation letter for Columbia, even though your focus is say science and she is an English teacher? Thanks!
It’s not about the pedigree of the person but the quality of the relationship and the conviction she shares anecdotes.
With your thinking, would you think it would hurt your chances at a non-Columbia peer school?
Choose based upon who can expound on YOUR strengths. She already has her degree.
Agreed, use the teachers that will provide you with the best recommendation. The academic backgrounds of the teachers who write the recommendations is not important – as noted above they already have their degrees and jobs.
Agreed with everything that has been said above. The relationship and the experiences that they will be able to talk about are MUCH more important. Think about it this way: the experiences they have had with you inside the classroom are what colleges are looking for in order to confirm that you are capable as you say you are and to write something personal/extra that may not be reflected in the rest of your application. What does it say if the teacher is merely a graduate of the school? Nothing much at all
My kid got an extra recommendation from an academic team coach who had attended a top school, and sent it just to that school. I think it was very specific about why my kid would be a good fit there, too. She was on his team for 4 years, so he knew her very well. She got in, and I suspect it helped.
Usually when a teacher writes a rec, they make it generic so it can be used at all schools. So you would likely lose any benefit of the Columbia connection if he just has it as one of his normal recommendations. From what I can see, Columbia does not accept additional recommendations beyond the standard two.
You could try to set it up so that teacher writes a special letter used just for Columbia. But it is the type of thing GC offices often mess up – there is s risk that they will use the wrong letter for the wrong college. Eek.
I think requesting a letter of recommendation from a teacher, coach, boss, or other connected/influential alum who knows you well and went to a college to which you are applying is a great idea. My sons both requested these types of references for two colleges. And, for what it’s worth, they were both accepted to those schools. The references gave my sons copies of their letters, and they had definitely highlighted their current relationships with the college and their graduation dates/degrees under the signature line. While such letters may not help, I can’t imagine that they would hurt. And, most colleges still take snail mail recommendations.
Are you applying ED to Columbia? If so, I think it makes sense to ask for a rec tailored to how you fit the school, as @intparent describes, and then you have a bit of time to work it out with guidance if you don’t get in. Not sure it’s worth the risk otherwise.