<p>Unusual question, but the name I prefer is not a name my parents approve of (it's too 'white', apparently), and I don't want them to find out about it. Why does CA ask- is it if I get accepted into a school, the letter will be addressed to the preferred name?</p>
<p>It doesn’t really matter. I’m sure most people don’t fill it out.</p>
<p>Like my name is Joseph, but I go by Joe.</p>
<p>My son uses an unusual diminutive as his name. Most of his teachers don’t know his legal name. His transcript came with this diminutive on it, so it was a good thing that schools had it, as well as his formal legal name, on the CA.</p>
<p>One of his friends has used his middle name as his preferred name since he was little. I would imagine his letters of recommendation will come in his middle name.</p>
<p>I also use a non-obvious nickname, that’s not my middle name. My official records had my real name but my teacher recs probably had my nickname. If the admissions office didn’t know it was my nickname, they probably would have thought they had the wrong person!</p>