Should i send an additional recommendation letter

mochabear
Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:35:26 +0000

I attended a governor’s school (a highly selective summer program) and the director offered all alumni recommendation letters. A few weeks after the program ended I was visiting brown and asked the admissions counselor giving the presentation whether she thought I should include the rec letter. Her response was “if you think it will help us make a decision, then use it, but we don’t want to see a letter from your cub scout leader.”
Essentially what I think she meant was that your letter should say something very exceptional about you, and that she doesn’t want to read superfluous material unless it does.
I sent in my governor’s school recommendation, but the director and I had had extensive conversations about community service and economic intervention in the developing world, and I’m sure she included that in my recommendation letter. Hence, I included it because I thought it conveyed a facet of my personality that didn’t show in my other recommendation letters (and it also backed up the community service I talked about in my common application essay). I guess it was helpful, because I ended up being accepted to Brown early decision/
As for you, if your letter is just going to say that you were reliable employee and a relatively decent piano player, I’m not sure it will be worth it. On the other hand, if you are a truly exceptional piano player and the letter conveys that, then by all means send it in.