Letters of recommendation are an important part of college applications. Colleges are a place to learn, and so they want to hear from your current teachers what kind of student you are, and how you contribute to an academic environment. We’ve written before about how important these letters are, and how to go about getting one that represents you well. Some colleges, however, accept letters of recommendation from other sources, particularly from mentors you have had. This, in turn, raises the important question of how important these letters are, whether or not you need one, and where you can get one. In this article, we’re going to explore the subject of supplemental letters of recommendation, so you can fully understand what colleges want from you.Ìý
Colleges That Accept Supplemental Letters of Recommendation
College applications are already quite long, and admissions officers spend months reading them. It’s not surprising then that not all colleges want supplemental letters of recommendation (indeed, there are some schools that don’t want rec letters at all). For your convenience, here is a chart of top colleges in the US, and their policies on letters of recommendation.
We have color coded this chart for ease of reading:
- Green means that additional letters of recommendation are accepted
- Yellow means that additional letters are allowed, but discouraged
- Red means that the college does not accept letter of recommendation at all
- No colors means that the school has a typical desire for recommendation letters; 1-2 teacher letters and a counselor letter, and does not accept supplemental letters
| College | Letter Requirements | Notes |
| Babson | One from a counselor and one from a teacher. | Ìý |
| Boston College | One counselor, two teacher | They recommend both teacher letters come from a core academic subject |
| Boston University | One counselor and one teacher | Ìý |
| Brandeis | One counselor and one teacher in a core academic subject | Ìý |
| Brown | One counselor, and two teachers in major academic subjects | Up to four letters from teachers are accepted in total |
| One letter from a math or science teacher, one from a humanities teacher | Up to two additional letters from mentors or supervisors are accepted | |
| Carnegie Mellon | One counselor and one teacher | An additional teacher recommendation is accepted, but the committee will only consider two letters total |
| Case Western | One counselor and two teachers | At least one teacher letter should come from the subject you intend to study in college |
| Columbia | One counselor and two teachers, engineering students must have one letter from a STEM teacher | If you completed research, a research mentor may submit an additional letter of recommendation |
| Cornell | One counselor and two teachers | One teacher should relate to proposed field of study |
| One counselor and two teachers | Teacher letters should come from core academic subjects. A peer letter is optional, but recommended. One additional rec letter accepted | |
| Duke | One counselor and two teachers in major academic subjects | If you’re applying to study engineering, one letter needs to be from a math or science teacher. An additional personal letter is also accepted |
| Emory | One counselor and two teachers in core academic subjects | Ìý |
| Georgetown | One counselor and one teacher | The school you are applying to affects which teacher needs to write the letter. Georgetown college: science or pre-med, math or science teacher; foreign language or linguistics, a foreign language teacher; all other majors, any teacher from a core academic subject. School of Business: math or social studies teacher. School of Nursing: science or math teacher. School of Foreign Service: teacher in a core academic subject. |
| Georgia Tech | One counselor and two teachers | All recommendations are optional |
| Harvard | Two teacher recommendations in different subjects | Ìý |
| Johns Hopkins | One counselor and two teachers in different academic subjects | Ìý |
| One letter from a math or science teacher, one from a humanities teacher, one counselor letter | Ìý | |
| One letter required, up to three accepted (one counselor and two teacher) | Letters can come from non teachers in a position of authority | |
| Northeastern | One counselor and one teacher | 1-2 additional letters can be submitted, but may not be read |
| Northwestern | One counselor, one teacher in a core academic subject | One supplemental letter accepted |
| Notre Dame | One teacher in a core academic subject, one counselor | If no counselor is available, another member of your school admin may write the letter instead |
| Princeton | One counselor, two teachers | They prefer teachers be from different core academic subjects |
| Purdue | Letters not required | One teacher letter accepted |
| Rice | One counselor and two teachers, one of which should relate to planned field of study. | An additional rec letter from a third party who can speak to some other aspect of your character may be submitted |
| Rutgers | Not accepted | Ìý |
| Stanford | One counselor and two teachers in core academic subjects | One additional letter is accepted |
| Tufts | One counselor, one teacher in a core academic subject | Ìý |
| Tulane | One counselor | Teacher letters are not required but will be considered if submitted |
| UC Berkeley | Berkeley will contact you directly if they want letters, otherwise they are not accepted. | One letter must be from a teacher in a core academic subject, the other can be from anyone, they prefer it not come from a family member. |
| UCLA | Not required | Ìý |
| One teacher in an academic subject | One additional teacher letter may be submitted | |
| UChicago | One counselor and two teachers in academic subjects | One additional letter accepted |
| University of Michigan | One counselor and one teacher in an academic subject | Ìý |
| One counselor and one teacher in a core academic subject | One additional letter accepted, from either a teacher or a non-teacher mentor | |
| University of Rochester | One counselor and one teacher | You may submit up to three total teacher letters, and an additional peer letter |
| USC | One counselor or one teacher | Ìý |
| UVA | One counselor and one teacher in a core academic subject | Ìý |
| UT Austin | Not required | Up to two are accepted |
| Vanderbilt | One counselor and two teacher letters | Ìý |
| Wake Forest | One teacher letter | One counselor letter may be submitted |
| Washington University of St Louis | One counselor and one teacher | Ìý |
| One counselor letter | Up to three additional letters are accepted, from teachers or another mentor | |
| Yale | One counselor, two teachers in core academic subject who taught you during the school year | One additional letter may be submitted, but is discouraged |
This is a lot of information, but we hope it’s clear enough. Now come the more important questions: where should you get a supplemental letter of recommendation, and how can having one benefit your application?
Who Should Write Your Supplemental Letter of Recommendation?
This is going to be highly dependent on your own circumstances, and what kinds of mentors you have access to. We’re going to first go over the traits you want for these letters generally, and then cover where these can come from.Ìý
What these letters need to do is provide a perspective on you that colleges could not otherwise get from your application. They need to add context, to explain who you are as a person and scholar in ways that go beyond what your teachers are able to say. This person needs to know you well, to be able to speak to your character, and to have seen you do things that your teachers haven’t.Ìý
Research Mentors
If you have pursued a research project, be it in a lab internship, a summer program, or overseen by a research mentor as you pursue an independent project, then this can be quite good to have a letter discussing. Colleges like to see that students have completed research, but are increasingly wary of students taking on non-credible research projects. We discuss this more in this article, but to sum up, many providers who claim to provide a research experience significantly under-deliver, and colleges are growing increasingly aware of this.Ìý
A letter from a research mentor both assuages these concerns from admissions officers, and gives confirmation of the work you did on a research project. Colleges trust you of course, but additional verification is always good. Research mentors are also able to speak to your performance in the act of research itself, just as teachers can speak to your performance in the classroom.
Employers
Work is separate from school, be it a highly competitive internship or simply working at a local restaurant. In both cases, however, how you perform at a job can be seen as a good indicator of how you will handle yourself in college when dealing with increased independence and responsibilities.
Many of the questions asked by colleges serve as a proxy to evaluate your maturity and ability to take responsibility. While an employer may or may not be able to speak well on your academic prowess (though some internships certainly can), they can certainly discuss your maturity and readiness for the responsibilities of college.Ìý
Coaches
The final core group you can turn to for additional letters of recommendation are coaches, be they athletic or overseeing you in debate or quizbowl. In most cases, this is unnecessary, but if you have an extracurricular you devote most or all of your time to outside of school, then an additional perspective and added context on what that entails can help admissions officers understand what you are doing there.Ìý
This is not necessary in most cases, only if there is something in what you have done that cannot be adequately described elsewhere in your application. As with employers, these are a good way to show off your character, maturity, and ability to take responsibility, especially under pressure.Ìý
Do You Need a Supplemental Letter of Recommendation for Your Application?
This is perhaps the most important question. Before you go out and start asking for supplemental letters, you should determine how they would benefit your application specifically. Here is our process for doing this with the students we work with:Ìý
Finalize their college list. We want to know which schools they’re applying to (if any) will accept these letters before we go looking for them. Applying to college is a lot of work, and we don’t want to saddle our students with any work they don’t need to do.
Plan out the narrative of their application. A college application tells the story of you, what you have done, and what your accomplishments mean to you. We then see if there’s any aspects of your narrative which would benefit from additional context. This is most common for students who have completed research, or for students with a significant extracurricular commitment which isn’t tied to their school.Ìý
Assess potential letter writers. If the student’s narrative would significantly benefit from the inclusion of a letter, then we assess who might be able to write one. Professors and research supervisors are well used to writing these, but even bosses may be amenable to serve as a reference. We help students determine how to ask, and how to fit this letter into the broader application.Ìý
When Not to Include a Letter
Do not include a letter just to highlight a connection to a somewhat famous or notable person. If you are a junior volunteer on a political campaign and shook hands with the candidate once, they cannot write you a letter of recommendation that means anything. This is also generally true for CEOs of companies, or important people your parents may know.Ìý
Also do not include a letter simply for the sake of including one. If it is going to repeat information already contained elsewhere in your application, then admissions officers won’t gain anything from reading it. Only include one of these letters if it adds something meaningful to what admissions officers will know about you.Ìý
Final Thoughts
Letters of recommendation are often overlooked by students, but are a key way for schools to gain an understanding of who you are as a person, the one piece of the application they get that you do not write. In certain circumstances, an additional letter of recommendation can add greatly to your application’s impact. We hope that this article has helped you understand how this works, and when you might want to include one of these letters.Ìý
The college application process is incredibly complicated, with many moving pieces to track, and many circumstantial occurrences which many students never consider. This all feels very overwhelming, and that’s where an expert guide can help. ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø mentors have a deep understanding of the entire application process, and are experts at helping students tell their unique stories to admissions officers. If you have any questions about your application, and want to hear how we can help, then schedule a free consultation today. We’re always happy to hear from you.
