<p>Long story short, is it possible to send in three letters of recommendation to HYPSM (all five of them)? 1 English, 1 history, and 1 math? Plus one counselor?</p>
<p>Or does it have to be two teachers, one counselor?</p>
<p>I would advise you not to. They asked that you send two from academic teachers and one from a Counselor, and it might not help you out too much to knowingly not follow their directions.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you have someone important (AKA, Prof from the University, Politician, Famous Alumni) writing you a recommendation, that might be an appropriate third to send.</p>
<p>I sent 3 letters (History, Math, and Economics), and I turned out okay!
Generally speaking if you have 3 which can show very different sides of you (History; active participation and engagement, Math; creativity and math aptitude, Economics; analytical skill and interest in esoteric subjects (Turkish Economic History around 1970)), then certainly do it!</p>
<p>MSauce: that sort of naked name-dropping (your suggestion of a politician or famous alum writing a rec letter) is rather frowned upon. Supplemental rec letters from an outside source such as an employer or coach which shed another angle on the applicant are acceptable. Having daddy’s friend who’s a celeb write a LOR for some unknown kid is worse than worthless.</p>
<p>Yeah, celebrities/famous alums/politicians are useless when it comes to writing recs. I’d say if your supplemental rec can offer a different perspective on you, it couldn’t hurt to send it in. I sent it a supplemental rec by my art teacher (in addition to recs by my counselor, history teacher, and English teacher). However, if the supplemental rec is just going to reiterate what the other two have already said, it’s not worth sending it in.</p>
<p>I think in a perfect world, you’d be right. But Colleges do care about important recommendations, especially if you know the person in a reasonable way (AKA, interned for a politician, are neighbors with a famous alum, etc.). I believe at my information session at Stanford they told students they should only send two letters of recommendation from teachers, plus counselors, plus one spot was allotted for a letter from an important person or alumni, although was not required.</p>
<p>And truthfully, even if “Daddy” has the connections, that probably means they’re admitted a likely donor. If you think College Admissions offices are the moral police, making sure the affluent don’t have advantages over those who aren’t, then that’s fine. I just disagree–I think they’re impressed when they see a letter from someone other than Teacher X who thinks Applicant Y is the greatest student ever!</p>
<p>Okay, let me try and lay out the situation for you guys and ask what you guys would do.</p>
<p>Originally I was planning on having my math teacher and history teacher write my recs. However, my English teacher straight up offered to write my recommendation a couple of weeks ago. </p>
<p>The math teacher I’m referring to taught me Calc BC last year as a sophomore, and I had him two years previously as well, and he’s the adviser for the math club/team of which I’m an officer of. However, I’m not too sure how his rec will be since a) I had him two years ago by the time I’m a senior and b) even though I’m two grades ahead in math, I’m not the strongest student ever. I mean, I’m top of the class (top 3 or so), and I’ve gotten departmental awards for the last two years, but I’m not insanely brilliant, if you know what I mean. Sorry for being confusing.</p>
<p>What about dropping the recommendation for math, and just submitting 1 rec from English and 1 rec from history (plus the counselor one)?</p>
<p>If it helps, my intended major is econ or business (depending on what the schools offer).</p>
<p>I sent recs from my physics, stats, and english teachers and it worked out well! As long as they all add something you’re good.</p>
<p>I’ve heard at almost all info sessions they want a Junior or Senior year teacher, so you might have to just forget the Math one.</p>
<p>I’d pick two junior or senior teachers and your counselor. Only add an additional rec if it’s a person who knows you in a capacity markedly different than that of your other recs. In general, friends of mine who’ve sent third recs used elective teachers, club advisors, or camp instructors–people who knew the students in EC, non-academic ways and could flesh out their non-academic personalities.</p>
<p>Does any of HYPSM require 2 different subject area teachers? As in, 1 history/english and 1 math/science?</p>
<p>I think they prefer it two different subject areas, but if two teachers in the same area can offer different perspectives on you as a student and person, then it’ll be ok. Just make sure they aren’t just saying the exact same things about you. That may hurt you. But I think it’s ok to send 3 letters of rec (your original question) as long as they don’t repeat each other, like I just said.</p>
<p>So 3 letters of rec + 1 counselor? People keep telling me the counselor recommendation is required, but there’s no mention of it at the schools’ websites.</p>
<p>A counselor rec is required (it’s part of the common app). History and English are treated as different subjects (I sent 1 History and 1 English rec).</p>
<p>“I think in a perfect world, you’d be right. But Colleges do care about important recommendations, especially if you know the person in a reasonable way (AKA, interned for a politician, are neighbors with a famous alum, etc.). I believe at my information session at Stanford they told students they should only send two letters of recommendation from teachers, plus counselors, plus one spot was allotted for a letter from an important person or alumni, although was not required.”</p>
<p>^At a Stanford information session, the admissions officer told me just the opposite – the want depth of information and not blatant name dropping. Now, if you’ve interned with some politician and he knows you genuinely well, it’d be a different story. But just having a notable alum whom your father just happens to know write you a rec would be pointless. In fact, I’d personally be less inclined to accept someone like that, knowing that he/she lacks anyone who could say anything substantial about him/her and must thus resort to name-dropping.</p>
<p>Teacher vs. Dean of Students.</p>
<p>The Dean of Students has been the leader of my daughter’s advisory group since 9th grade. My daughter was going to ask her to write the letter of recommendation instead of a teacher as she can speak to her arc over all 4 years as a student and leader in the school. Thoughts?</p>
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<p>All the admissions sessions I’ve attended have said something to this affect. The name doesn’t matter; the content does. Pick the person who can elaborate on your personality and talents with the most detail. </p>
<p>To the above poster, does the Dean of Students know your D well?</p>
<p>I say actions speak louder than words.</p>
<p>"We really want to see someone who knows you well and can give us some insight into your character, not just name dropping.</p>
<p>“But if you know an important person, we encourage you to send an additional recommendation from that person.”</p>
<p>What are they supposed to say? “We give advantages to the wealthy and well-connected.”</p>
<p>“But if you know an important person, we encourage you to send an additional recommendation from that person.”</p>
<p>^I’ve never heard an admissions officer say this. In fact, most of them say just the opposite. And really, a generic fill-in-your-name-here rec is useless to someone admitting you based on your personality/character, not based on whom you happen to know.</p>
<p>We have to have the guidance counselor LOR. With a school as large as his (2,500 students), he has asked to meet with her in the fall as a mini-interview so she can better write his LOR. He is taking a programing class his Sr. year from his Robotics coach. In part, he left this class to his Sr. year so he could use her as a LOR. She has known him for four years and taken him to two world championships. When you spend 20+ hrs/week with a student I would think your assessment of their ethics, etc., would hold more weight than a teacher fm your Sr. year who hasn’t known you long. My question is, do you think it will be ‘looked down upon’ that the class isn’t a core subject? He is applying to engineering schools. His jr. math teacher is a num-nut (Funct/analy/geo), and his AP chem teacher is pretty whack-a-doo as well. Although they both think well of him, I’m not convinced they could put together a decent, coherent LOR.
Thanks for your input!</p>