Sending Extra Letter of Rec Questions

[ToAspire]

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Hi folks,

Just a brief question. If we're sending an extra letter of recommendation (apart from the 3 profs etc), should we just have it send in via envelope to the department?

How should we notify them that its an extra recommendation etc?

Past experience with this?

Thank you!

 

[deadmau5]

send it with the rest of your application or send it with your applicant info on it. i dont think it's necessary to put "extra" on it.

though I haven't done that before.

 

[bsomerville]

Hi all-- in addition to my three letters of recommendation from professors who know me well, I'm considering requesting a fourth from a postdoc at my university who teaches grad level statistics courses. I was his teaching assistant this fall for our intro to stats class, and he's been pleased with my work.

If a particular program states that only three letters are required, will it be in my favor or to my detriment to include a fourth? Or do you think it depends from school to school?

Perhaps a better question is this: Has anyone heard of an extra letter backfiring in any way?

Thanks!!

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Hi all-- in addition to my three letters of recommendation...

MOD NOTE: I merged your thread with an existing thread about sending in additional LORs. Before posting a new thread, please do a quick search to see if your topic has been posted before. This thread was about halfway down the front page of the forum....-t4c

 

[fermopagus]

i am assuming this is about APPIC internship apps.

i also had four letters. a few of my sites specifically stated "No more than three letters" or "exactly three letters," in their application procedures. my DCT advised me to send in the materials that are requested and not anything extra, so that's what i did.

i imagine some sites won't mind an extra letter, but other sites will. i guess my answer is to check with your DCT. my reasoning was that it would be silly to have my application cast aside because i couldn't follow simple directions (when in reality this isn't really a simple issue). anyway, my two coppers.

 

[bsomerville]

MOD NOTE: I merged your thread with an existing thread about sending in additional LORs. Before posting a new thread, please do a quick search to see if your topic has been posted before. This thread was about halfway down the front page of the forum....-t4c

Hi-- I saw this thread before I posted but it was more about procedure and didn't address the issue of whether this is a good strategy or not. That's why I started a new thread. This will work, though. Thanks!

 

[FadedC]

I think it's important to send an extra letter just so you aren't completely screwed over if one of your professors flakes out (which happens more then you might think). But if you see an application that specifically says not to send an extra, then it's probably better not to.