Best strategy for letters of recommendation when a relative is involved

[ucbalumnus]

@NiceUnparticularMan

Indeed, in general, we know there are a lot of “surprising” results when comparing the parts of applicant profiles that we can see to college admissions results. But one thing we systematically cannot see is recommendations. I tend to think this may be more of a factor in “surprising” results than many might realize, either way.

Colleges using recommendations for admission allow more factors out of the applicant’s control into the admission process – specifically access to and quality of recommenders. For example, there was this thread about the problem: Teacher told S24 to write his own letter of recommendation [and other teachers are refusing or rationing letters of recommendation]