Can you have to many LOR's?

[willagirl]

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I was wondering, is 5-7 letters of recommendation too many?

I am applying to UF, Wisconsin, NC State and Mizzou.

 

[that redhead]

If I remember correctly, you can only submit up to 6 letters.

My personal opinion is that more than three doesn't give you much of a boost. Some schools won't even look at more than three. I would select the three you expect to be strongest/that you have the most involvement with and submit those. If you have six very different experiences/scenarios that you feel will shed light on different aspects of your level of awesomeness, sure. But more letters on their own don't add to the competitiveness of your application.

 

[Barley426]

I had 5 letters, all were excellent. My interviewers' commented on the fact that I didn't have just one or two strong letters, but five. I think he was implying that some people flood them with letters that sound generic, and they're not impressed by that.

5-7 letters from people that sound like they really really recommend you? Great.

5-7 letters from people that sound like they really didn't know you? Meh.

 

[Frozenshades]

If I remember correctly, you can only submit up to 6 letters.

My personal opinion is that more than three doesn't give you much of a boost. Some schools won't even look at more than three. I would select the three you expect to be strongest/that you have the most involvement with and submit those. If you have six very different experiences/scenarios that you feel will shed light on different aspects of your level of awesomeness, sure. But more letters on their own don't add to the competitiveness of your application.

👍

I only had 3.

 

[Trilt]

NCSU prefers to only get three, but I think they're kind of weird in that regard.

 

[macita183]

I had heard from someone that used to sit on the admissions committee at Wisconsin that they only look at 3 letters regardless of how many you had. I had 5, but for Wisconsin I sent an email asking them to use 3 specific ones.

 

[Kpowell14]

Quality is definitely better than Quantity in this situation!!

ETA: Mizzou is also a school that will only look at either 3 or 4 letters.. I can't remember, last fall feels so long ago!!

 

[Bismarck]

3-5 is a good number ( I think I had 4). Keep in mind that by having > 3 people writing for you, you have some wiggle room if somebody balks at the last moment.

 

[equineconstant]

Quality is definitely better than Quantity in this situation!!

ETA: Mizzou is also a school that will only look at either 3 or 4 letters.. I can't remember, last fall feels so long ago!!

It looked that way, but I emailed to ask if I should order my LORs in a specific way so that they would read the ones I most wanted them to see and they said they read all of them.

I had 6, btw. But there was only maybe one that wasn't Excellent.

 

[Siomai]

I had six representing three areas:

2 professors for academia
1 vet for volunteer work
1 comparative anatomist/ documentary host
2 from work ( health care and manufacturing)

I wanted my background/ experiences be represented well. I am a non trad. I got into eight schools so it definitely worked. Some schools limit three and they will ask you which three you want them to read