<p>Hi. i was just curious whether a recommendation from a summer program @ columbia would help. it is from a poetry master class – a personalized letter addressing my strengths and interests. and creative writing is what i want to pursue in the future, very likely. And also, will a recommendation letter from a brown alum + interviewer raise my chances as well??</p>
<p>Thanks so much! :)</p>
<p>both of these, IF the person can really write a personal (really sounds like they know you) letter, are likely to help some. I would put the limit on this sort of thing at 1-2 MAX. Too much extra stuff in your application can dilute the effectiveness of the rest of it. (Starts to act like SPAM).
The alum interest note is particularly helpful if that person is a career/academic mentor of some sort. My husband mentored a HS student who went to a small HS Brown had never heard of, ungraded and barely had any students go on to college at that point, let alone Ivies. This student, from knowing my husband, decided when he was in elementary school that he wanted to go to Brown and husband had him working in his office for 2 + years (engineering firm). Husband wrote the rec that student’s mom says was told was a big part of why student got in. (He is one of Brown’s most dedicated ScB/Masters alums now (and ex Brown Bear!))</p>