For many competitive colleges “level of the applicants interest” is factored into the admission process. Would it hurt an applicant to have more rec letters than required by the college/university if said rec letters were unsolicited? For instance, many colleges want two letters from high school teachers and the school guidance counselor. What if the student also met with current professors and others connected to the university (who have some amount of influence) and those people, after the meeting, sent in additional support letters? Would the college consider “this student is really interested” or too many letters of recommendation… which might ultimately hurt the applicant? There is an opportunity for our student to meet with a professor and former board member of their top choice school… not asking the interviewers to send in a letter, but if they did would it be too much?
@cheetahgirl121 - what I have heard and read about LoRs is that if the additional letters add significantly different perspective(s) than others previously submitted, you should submitted. Also to note is that LoRs should explain the qualities of the applicant based on teaching and or research and or other relevant experiences, rather than just acquaintances. I have also read that people send LoRs from Senators etc - thinking those are valued higher because of the office - but apparently they are not. These are just what I have read or heard of, so take it FWIW.
Would asking someone to submit an “unsolicited” rec after a half hour meeting be overkill? Yes. What possible things could a professor say that would add value to an application?
In general, if a school allows extra recs (and many do not) you should limit it to one more than the required. Even then, it should only be if the extra rec can add some insight that is not covered in the other recs. Otherwise, the old adage applies: the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.
While some applicants do that, it does not mean that they are helpful. Some colleges may look less kindly on this type of blatant name-dropping.
Eeks. Level of interest is in what you show, not what you say. And certainly not what some stranger you briefly met with says.
As for “significantly different perspective,” the real point in LoRs is teachers who have academic experience with you.
Your strategy isn’t new or wanted – it’s almost always discussed at info sessions by selective schools. Indeed, the egregious violating situations are trotted out for mockery as a kind warning to the audience (some Harvard applicant uploaded +100 letters or something). Don’t do it.
Thanks for the replies. @T26E4 I absolutely agree that only sending the Lor’s requested by the college is what a student should do. Perhaps my post was not clear… I am referring to letters coming from professors/others from the university that my student met with as part of the process of finding out whether the program/ school was a good fit.
I have no way of knowing whether they did/did not send in recommendations although one professor said he would send a note to admissions. I was just curious if the other people (my student met with several) DID send in a note to admission if that could impact negatively even though it was unsolicited.
I think the profs were being polite to be frank. Unless the prof actually had the student work for him/her, their effect (if sent at all) would be zero.
And their incentive would be zero. These folks have other priorities to deal with.
The point of my post was not to ascertain whether the college faculty did or did not write a letter of rec, what their incentive might be for doing so, or if they were too busy too many priorities etc. The fact that they are willing to meet with a high school applicant interested in their school is interest enough in my opinion.
In many respects applying to college(s) is almost like interviewing for a job. The job interviewers may only meet with an applicant for 15-20 minutes, look at their resume, ask a few questions etc. However, the compilation of all the various conversations etc. create a picture of whether that person is a fit for a particular company etc. In the same way a high school student should do their due diligence which in our students case meant talking with different people.
“There is an opportunity for our student to meet with a professor and former board member of their top choice school… not asking the interviewers to send in a letter, but if they did would it be too much?”…
Meeting with you is simply not the sort of evidence of your “interest” that matters. It’s not even novel.
Carries next to no weight unless they have worked with the kid. It’s the equivalent of, “I met her at a party and she seems nice and told me how interested she is.” No Sale.
I suspect the issue is in your wording. If she made the effort, she can find a way to insert a line in her app that shows that and how it contributed to the Why Us, her sense of match. That would be first-hand, not counting on some stranger to attest. She either conveys, in her own app and supp, by her own hand, her own interest well or not. That’s where the rubber hits the road.
If they sent it in, that means they are really interested in recruiting the student, so it should not affect the application negatively in any way.