Recommendation from Mayor!

DwightEisenhower
Thu, 16 Dec 2010 16:14:58 +0000

That means you are unsure & somewhere in your mind you believe that submitting such a recommendation will be really helpful. Am I right?



No, it just means I can’t say for sure what the Harvard admissions office thinks about this or that, since I’m not an admissions officer.

I don’t think a supplemental recommendation will hurt you unless it is very impersonal, in which case it will likely be viewed as some attempt to “name-drop.” I put that in quotes because it’s not really his name that matters but his political position, but I couldn’t think of a more appropriate term.

However, even if the recommendation is very personal and helps Harvard to understand you better, I don’t think it will be a dealbreaker. Most applicants could probably provide a supplemental recommendation from someone who knows them well–an EC moderator, a coach, the owner of a company at which they worked in the summer–but most don’t. Harvard doesn’t ask for supplemental recommendations.

I guess, in sum, if you truly think the mayor can write you a personal recommendation, it can’t hurt you. If he hasn’t met you personally or had a substantial conversation with you, I don’t think you should ask him for a rec. Because an impersonal, formulaic rec can hurt you.