Recommendation letters

The other week, I got the support of the last of six people who will be writing recommendations for my applications. It was unnecessarily nerve wracking for me - I kept on asking myself what would happen if they didn't feel comfortable doing it or didn't have enough time. But all in all, everyone I asked seemed enthusiastic to help out, and it was flattering and humbling to know that so many people are willing to put their word on my application.

I asked six people to write my recommendations, even though the maximum number of letters is 3 (Harvard and Stanford). I did this because I'm applying to 5 schools in one round, and didn't want to overburden any one person with more than 1 or 2 recommendations. That being said, my current manager will be writing a recommendation for all 5, but everyone else is only doing 1 or 2.

All in all, I think a strong recommendation will help you a bit, and a poorly written recommendation won't hurt you necessarily. But it's best to be strategic about it and get your letters emphasizing the best parts of your profile.

I'm starting to think a little about essays, and I'd like to write a little on that as well.

More later.