Getting recommendation letter from an Ivy professor? 4 questions

arwarw
Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:50:54 +0000

William R. Fitzsimmons, the longtime dean of admissions Harvard College, says:

The value of an additional letter or two depends on how well the person knows you, not the person’s profession or who he or she might be.

One of the best letters we ever received over the years was written by the school’s custodian who supervised the student in the school’s work program under very difficult circumstances, when everyone was tired at the end of the school day. The letter supported the other positive information in the application about how the student always made everyone around him better — and it made up for sparse recommendations from the over-worked teachers and counselors at that school. The strong personal qualities and character noted by the custodian were confirmed by the remarkable difference the student made to others during his college career and the difference he continues to make today.



Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 3 - The New York Times;