<p>So 4 months ago, I asked my teacher to write me a recommendation.</p>
<p>Well, she loved to do so and today, she sent it (although I waived my
right to access it, well, whatever). I didn't read but open it and scrolled
through: she wrote nearly 3 pages!!!</p>
<p>Now before you go "CUT IT OUT, it's redundant, nobody is interested in that,
there can't be so much she has to tell about you!": although she's a German
teacher and thus not used to the length of American teacher recs,
she wrote several for pupils going to German universities. And I trust her - she is very proficient in being a teacher...I don't think anything she wrote is redundant, she knows me very well.</p>
<p>Yet, the point that I'm trying to make is: will admissions officers even bother reading so long recommendations? Can so long recs be good or are they bound to fail?</p>
<p>“Finally, please pay special attention to the opening and closing of your evaluation. Remember, we are reading 11,000 applications and we appreciate strong statements that we’ll remember as we evaluate each candidate.”</p>
<p>Now I’m glad that Harvard does not have such a rec “guide”. While the AOs may proceed as MIT inofficially, officially, they have no such guide.</p>
<p>Either way, I’m not responsible for a recommendation as I have waived my right to access it, am I? </p>
<p>It’s just that I have a bad feeling…the AOs are reading so many applications with essays, recs and all that stuff - I can’t imagine they’d love to read thousands and hundreds of so long recs…</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. You are not responsible, or even supposed to know, what your teachers say or how they say it. Besides, you have another one, right?
They will not hold it against you, and they probably don’t read all of most of the recs that come in. They are professionals, and see all kinds.</p>