<p>Recently, I toured Stanford University and SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) where I was able to gain access to see the actual linear accelerator underground. Long story short, a member of my family has contacts at Stanford and I will most likely be able to obtain a reccommendation letter from the director of SLAC. Is it true that having such a letter and knowing someone of importance from Stanford will increase my chances of getting in? I expect to do well on my SAT and ACT as well based on practice tests, and have a high GPA. I would like another opinion on whether I should use the reccommendation letter or not though. Thanks</p>
<p>Does this person know you? If you just met briefly, it is unlikely that such a letter will have any impact on your application. But if you have great scores and a specific interest in Stanford physics, go for it!</p>
<p>No, it’s better to have an unknown tutor write a rec, rather than someone who barely knows you, no matter how important s/he may be. If s/he knows you have a passion for physics, then you may be able to get him/her to advocate for you directly.</p>
<p>The weight accorded an LOR is not according to the prestige of the writer, but instead is according to how well the writer knows the student and how they substantiate the recommendation. </p>
<p>Good LOR writer = someone very familiar with your work who can give concrete examples of the great character traits he attributes to you. “I know Jane will make a great veterinarian, her dream job, because she successfully performed an emergency appendectomy on my Great Dane “Sparky” who guards my salvage yard at night. She nursed Sparky through his long recovery and then taught him to bark “Happy Birthday,” too. You would be very lucky to have Jane spend her undergrad years there.”</p>
<p>Worthless LOR writer = someone who doesn’t actually know you. “I know Jane will do great at Stanford, in whatever she is interested in studying, she has the solid grades and test scores to succeed there. She really impressed me once with her firm handshake and she looked me directly in the eye. I should know, I do advanced Physics research.”</p>