How important are recommendation letters?

T26E4
Mon, 22 Apr 2013 05:09:12 +0000

swam: the 2nd poster gives some broad and incorrect advice. your first source should be the primary one: the individual college’s website. The bulk of US colleges don’t even require LORs, don’t consider ECs. It all depends on the type of school you’re targeting.

The anti-Asian bias is bandied about in meta discussions of highly selective colleges (and it’s very debatable). At most schools, ANYONE with top grades/scores will be admitted w/o a second’s hesitation to consider their race.

How the 2nd poster thinks wealthy are disadvantaged and quick applying people get preference is beyond me as well. Again, some very very selective schools search for excellence in lower economic applicants. But to say this discriminates against high income kids is preposterous (e.g. ~40% of kids at Harvard receive no FinAid = they come from households earning more than US$250K – go see how representative that demographic is).

That’s an inherent weakness in these fora – gotta wade through some bad with the good.