Can I submit more recommendation letters than what is specified on a college's website?
In order to apply to a summer program, I required a letter of recommendation from a teacher which I obtained from a Creative Writing teacher. After being accepted in the program, I read the letter and was absolutely astonished by how positively she viewed me despite a lack of strong connection. Throughout the school year, my bond with my other English teacher grew, and I became positive that I wanted her to write me a letter of recommendation for college. I asked her, and she gladly accepted. By that time my list of colleges was gaining substance, and I had found a few to which I definitively wanted to apply. Unfortunately, these colleges required or strongly suggested one letter of recommendation from a humanities teacher and one from a science teacher. I am torn between my two humanities teachers, one whose letter is absolutely astounding but with whom I have little connection, and one with whom I have very strong connection but whose letter would not likely surpass that of my other teacher. So: can I submit both, perhaps including one as supplementary material? Any advice given to help resolve this dilemma would be greatly appreciated. Thank-you. #college #teaching #college-major #recommendation #education #higher-education
2 answers
Brittany’s Answer
I would definitely recommend following the application requirements as closely as possible. If it requires ONLY one letter of recommendation, you should stick to just one. If the requirements are a bit more lenient, then you can potentially submit the second letter of recommendation as supplemental material.
At the end of the day, you want to be as well represented in your application as possible. If you feel that the recommendation letter written by the teacher you don't have as strong of a connection with accurately depicts your personality and is well written, then you can feel free to put that in as your top letter of recommendation. But if the other letter written by your teacher that you do have a strong bond with better represents you, then you can use that recommendation letter.
Tina’s Answer
Typically you want to adhere strictly to the rules provided by the admissions office of the college you're applying to--so will want to stick with one humanities recommendation letter for the application. There are some colleges who may accept supplemental material and you may be able to reach out to them directly to confirm.
Another option for you would be to utilize one of both of the letters as letters of recommendation for scholarships you apply to so that you're able to let even more people know about how amazing you are!