How important are recommendation letters?

vdoijode00
Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:27:02 +0000

I’ve been accepted to UCB, which is said to give Ivy League education in a public university setting, so I suppose I’m qualified enough to reply to this. In my opinion, the LORs aren’t as highly considered as GPA & SAT scores.
This is the way colleges look at your application, from what I have determined.


GPA & grades/ test scores including SAT I/II or ACT
Extra-curricular involvement/ leadership roles in school and community
Essays- how eloquently can you represent your views/experiences? What is your personality beyond the statistics?
LORs


Keep in mind that, despite an amazing application, you may not be granted admission if you weren’t one of the first in the applicant pile, your race is widely represented in the university, your income figures are high, or you’re an out-of-state applicant.
People who apply more than 2 weeks after an application is available, people who are of Asian/Indian ethnicity, people who are of a high-income family, and people who do not reside in the state of the specified university have lower chances of being admitted.

Hopefully you are not determined to ONLY attend an ivy-league university, because acceptance is definitely not as easy as it seems, even if you are in the top 10 of your class/ have extended achievements. I would know, lol.
Good luck!