Re-using letters of recommendation

[Signifier]

Just a quick question: if I reapply next year to different schools, can I use the letters that I obtained for this application cycle? How is this viewed by Adcoms? Do I 1) have to get an all new set, 2) just have to get at least one letter of rec that points to what I've been doing in the interim? Or is it all good?

If my letters are just sitting in Interfolio, can I simply re-send them?

Thank you.

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[Mnbvcxz]

I personally think it may be in your interest to get new recommendations, especially if the date is on the ones that you have right now. Since you were not accepted last year with these recommendations, I think it would be better to get others. Even if the recommendation letters did not play a big role in your admission decision, or if your professors do not have much more to say about you than they did before (ie they were already good), having new recommendations proves that you did not get worse (it sounds bad written like that but I hope you get my point). It looks to me that you have been doing well for yourself through the past year so it would be to your advantage to have somebody else vouch for you about that (or as I mentioned earlier, show that they still have the same positive opinion of you they had last year).

 

[isoquin]

You want letters that are going to work to your advantage, and show what you've been up to. If you've gone an entire year and no one can write on your behalf, that's probably a red flag. I wouldn't say scrap everything and start from scratch, especially if you believe you have some strong letters already. But you should be invested in something, and a letter should support that something.