I know having a recommendation from a university professor teaching at the university you are applying to is beneficial. But what if you have a recommendation for another university???
i.e. Sending a Harvard professor’s recommendation to Princeton
<p>wow. good question.</p>
<p>i second that for an answer! as I will probably have 2 harvard prof. recs...</p>
<p>haha. what do you think.
if you were princeton admissions officer who reads harvard prof's enthusiastic rec of the student, would you say, "oh, he got rec from harvard." and reject or "wow, impressive."
i think the latter. after all, it can't hurt.</p>
<p>true.</p>
<p>some people can be so competitive though...</p>
<p>(CC is making me paranoid.)</p>
<p>Well isnt there a possibility he will think "he got a rec from harvard, well he must be applying to harvard too" <em>reject</em></p>
<p>welll... you don't think USC or NYU admissions would think like that, iwantfood... ...
...
... do you?</p>
<p>i duno, it seems awkward
...
o well i must be paranoid too</p>
<p>I think if the University its from is right in your area and therefore much more convenient for you to get work with a professor there, the college would understand. Its not like people can travel great distances just to get a rec from a professor at the school they want to apply to. I wouldn't worry too much about it.</p>
<p>Or the Princeton adcoms would think about it like this...</p>
<p>"Hehe... He could get into Harvard but would rather go here."</p>
<p>haha, insane. u really think princeton's gonna reject you cuz you apply to harvard?</p>
<p>How good can these recommendations truly be? I mean, even if you do get those recommendations from a Princeton or a double-Harvard (as someone else here claims), just how good can they be? Do they really know you all that well, how much spent could you have possibly spent with them? I think all of these top university recommendations may do more harm than good... it allows admissions officials looking over your application a lot of fodder for speculation and concern and can seriously hurt some applicants (especially ones with super high test scores who would've gotten in anyways, but the speculation opened the doors for adcom officials to reject them)... I don't know, that's my take on it...</p>
<p>TTG</p>
<p>If it's too risky, you could always give them to me.</p>
<p>ttgiang15:</p>
<p>sometimes people take classes with or do research with or maybe even know (as a friend) professors that teach at top schools.</p>
<p>and you make a valid point, it is really more important to have from people who know very very well.</p>
<p>but seeing as I need to supply my top school with about 5 recs, and knowing that most will be from people who know me very, very well as a student and a person, I figure adding a seal of approval from someone high up in my field of interest can add an edge.</p>
<p>Hmm.. if you know professor as a "friend" and don't have a working relationship with them, then you shouldn't go down that route. If you've done research with them, yeah, but it also begs the question in the very back of my mind "Doesn't that professor have graduate kids to take care of? How about the undergrads? Why is he wasting time on some high school kid? Perhaps his parents are friends with the professor..." -which isn't necessarily a good thing, sort of an "Ivy begets Ivy" or "rich gets richer" dealie.. Two recommendations are usually required, a third is optional if it can shed NEW light on the applicant, but #'s 4 & 5 are guaranteed to go straight to the trash can... </p>
<p>"I figure adding a seal of approval from someone high up in my field of interest can add an edge."</p>
<p>Yeah, that's exactly what the admissions officials are going to accuse you of doing and that's exactly why it's going to backfire.</p>
<p>TTG</p>
<p>actually ttgiang15 i do need 5, as I am applying to an art school that requires a MINIMUM of 3 ADDITIONAL recs to the recs I will use to the university itself.</p>
<p>and i used knowing them as "friends and "through research" as example,s I don't know them that way and by no means am I rich...</p>
<p>A professor at a large institution is reliable where a teacher could be just doing the recommendation because the kid bribed them...</p>
<p>ttgiang, would you see this in a different light if you had a recommendation from these type of people?</p>
<p>No iwantfood, I do not have double standards. That question has zero relevance to this... I still don't see how a professor from Harvard or Princeton would not only take time from his/her busy schedule to work with a student, but on top of that write a decent recommendation. Sure, you can bet that their grammar and stuff will be right on, but how much will they say about you beyond bordering making things up?</p>
<p>Tawny, I see how would need those extra recommendations... but art school and research from two harvard profs? Goodness, what type of research are you involved with and does it at all relate to the arts? If it's something random in the sciences, your art school might just think you're showing off- they don't give a darn about your expertise in other related fields (unless you're studying photography or something like that), they'd accept you on the basis of your arts... if it's somehow art-related research, or if these harvard professors recognize your art as of exceptional quality, then by all means use them for recommendations... if Harvard professors are already impressed by your artwork, then I don't see how you can go wrong.. furthermore, I don't see how you wouldn't get admitted to any arts school...</p>
<p>The previous posts were general responses to a problem that many students have (getting recommendations from professors) and should definitely be reconsidered on a case-by-case basis. It's just mere caution, since there are more wrongs to this apparently-sweet-deal of getting these recommendations from "high places" than rights... best of luck to all,</p>
<p>TTG</p>
<p>Okay, like I said I used research as one example of how someone would know a prof. That's not how I myself know any profs.</p>
<p>I took 2 classes at harvard (for ssp) in screenwriting and directing (I'm applying to film school). (plus, it is hard to tell from a resume if something you wrote was actually good or a play you did was actually well-directed if you can't send in supplemental essays/videos of this...) both of these teachers know my work well and are only "part-time" prof's for harvard... they are pretty much professionals in the industry.</p>
<p>I understand what you're saying, I was just trying to explain why they would be helpful to someone, like in a case similar to mine. Which is pretty specific, lol.</p>
<p>just get a frikking reccomendation from a teacher/professor/instructor who likes you and knows you and you feel comfortable with writing it. none of this other BS</p>
<p>Oh well, this thread has gone quite off topic</p>
<p>I wasn't asking for a moral lesson but thanks</p>