How important are Recos

Question

I hate the RECOS and the recommenders laziness in completing them..btw  How important are the RECOS   In stead of focusing on my essays, i am wasting time on recos, trying to add examples and how great i am bla bla ..what roles does recos play in admission ?

any comments?

pelihu · Answer

I have heard that outstanding recommendations don't help that much, because each person selects their own recommenders and you would expect most of the qualified applicants at top schools to have top notch recommendations. If everyone's got great recommendations, then they can't do much to distinguish you.

On the other hand, a lukewarm recommendation can kill you. It raises questions about your judgment, and obviously why in the course of your life, you can't find 2 people to say nice things about you.

I do think that schools understand some recommenders are unwilling to take the time to do a decent job, while others don't understand what schools are looking for.

Ozmba · Answer

Thanks for the post man, This one in particular has helped

rhyme · Answer

very important.

eazyb81 · Answer

IMO, they can hurt you a lot more than they can help you.

dukes · Answer

Thats what I've heard as well. But I imagine that alumni recommendations are pretty helpful.

rhyme · Answer

Alumni reco's are like entering the loren cave in Alzakabarhar with only a +2 elf wood sword while casting intimidating shout and stacking sunderarmour. It's totally like +10 charisma points.

How important are Recos

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