Allison pointed us to this entry
on the University of Virginia (UVa) admissions blog. It references a
discussion on College Confidential in which students revealed that, in
spite of UVa’s instructions to send one counselor recommendation and one
teacher recommendation, applicants were planning to send 5-6 letters
because friends told them that doing so would increase their chances of
admission. The UVa writer’s response could not be more direct.
No
one at UVa wants this. No one. Colleges ask for the items they would
like to receive. We like having the counselor and teacher perspectives
in the application. We always say that we'll read a supplemental
recommendation if you feel like there's something else we need to know,
but repetition is not needed. In fact, when reading 28,000
applications, repetition can be a bit tedious at times.
Two crucial lessons for college applicants here:
1.
Read and follow the colleges’ instructions. They will tell you what
they want (and don’t want). Don’t assume that you have a better, more
effective, or more efficient way.
2. Don’t take college admissions
advice from your friends, anonymous sources on the internet, or anybody
else who doesn’t actually know what they’re talking about. The best
advice will come from the colleges themselves, your high school
counselor, or a respected private counselor.