some schools ask for two letter of recommendations. here are some examples
MIT: “At MIT, we require letters of recommendation from two teachers (one math/science, one humanities)”
Stanford: "We recommend selecting grade 11 or 12 teachers in two of the following subject areas:
English
Mathematics
Science
Foreign language
History/social studies"
Now, MIT says required for two different subjects (math/science and humanities) while Stanford says “we recommend”
If the two letters of rec. I asked for are great, but are from two different science teachers, should I not apply to MIT at all? Better to apply to stanford because while usually “recommend” means you should do it, at least it’s not required to have two teachers of different subjects?
It seems straightforward – if you want to apply to MIT you need to get a recommendation from a humanities teacher. Do you have one English/SS or even a foreign language teacher who could write a positive recommendation for you?
unfortunately no. i mean i get good grades but i know i don’t really participate or care about humanities classes. Especially the colleges asking for rec. letter for humanities subject are reach schools, I don’t think asking for one is gonna work.
so required is required, but what about stanford? “recommended”
You will be at a disadvantage if you don’t meet the “recommendations.” Stanford has under a 5% acceptance rate and many many more qualified applicants will meet the school’s recommendations than the school has space to admit.