<p>When I first started my application I was only going to have the two teacher evaluations and the guidance counselor's letter as my three recommendations. However, an old friend of my grandmother who is an alumna of Smith has already written a sort of informal one and sent it off. In addition to this, I found out that my professor for a pre-collegiate program also attended Smith, so I had wanted her to write one, but now I think this is way too much. However I was looking at Smith's website and they don't really mention a cap for letters of rec. So it would really help if had some enlightenment on this, so that I don't annoy Smith admissions people.</p>
<p>It’s a good rule of thumb (in college apps and in life) to not give more letters of recc than are asked for/required by the application. Since your grandmother’s friend already sent off her letter, nothing much you can do about it, but I think it’s not worthwhile to have your pre-collegiate program professor write you a letter as well. Just do your two teachers and your guidance counselor. If it comes down to it that you are waitlisted or deferred, you can ask your program professor to write you a letter then to reiterate how interested you are in Smith, etc. But for the actual application, stick to what is asked for. It’s one area where you don’t get points for extra credit.</p>
<p>Sometimes less is more. S&P gives good advice: save the pre-collegiate program professor’s rec in case you’re waitlisted or deferred.</p>
<p><em>Everyone</em> thinks “just one or two more recs” won’t hurt. You wouldn’t want to the be the one responsible for the floor of the Admissions office giving way and crashing through to the cellar just because yours was the file whose added weight finally passed the engineering limits.</p>
<p>^ Hahaha! Love it!</p>
<p>My D’s package was sent from her high school with 2 teacher recs, guidance couselor letter and a letter from the facilitator of the club she is president of (this person is not a teacher, she is a school psych/social worker). Then after D’s 1st qtr grades came out, she did so well in her College Calc Honors class and has such a good relationship with the teacher that I thought it might be beneficial to send another rec. But I was afraid of overkill. So I contacted Smith and explained the situation. They told me it was fine to have the extra rec. sent and it should be sent without the common app form so that it is more informal. </p>
<p>When in doubt, give the college a call.</p>
<p>Well they’re certainly not going to set fire to the application because of a few extra letters, but it helps less than you usually think. And they don’t want the word out that it’s a good idea to send more letters because then everyone will inundate them with things from every place, but that doesn’t mean they won’t tell individuals it’s ok. </p>
<p>Basically, just use common sense. If you think your application will really benefit from an extra letter that is actually significant and meaningful, there’s no harm. If you think your application has some deficiencies that could be made up for by a letter of recommendation (for example, you’re not great at math, but your math teacher knows you work hard and try your best. you’d like an extra letter from them to shore up your math grades), go ahead. </p>
<p>But generally, discourage.</p>