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Unofficial recommendation

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throwbackthursday
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Unofficial recommendation [#permalink] New post   18 Oct 2021, 16:24
Hi All,

Does anyone know whether unofficial letters of recommendation can help in admissions? I have a close family friend who is a very successful entreprenaur (think Forbes top 100) and used to be on the admissions board of either Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton (an MBA alumn). The person in question has offered to write me an inofficial letter of recommendation and I just wanted to check if anyone is aware of how this would be seen by the admissions? My application is strong on its own but obviously quite a bit of luck goes into getting an interview at any of these schools. Let me know your thoughts.

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throwbackthursday
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Re: Unofficial recommendation [#permalink] New post   19 Oct 2021, 15:43
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Re: Unofficial recommendation [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2021, 10:50
throwbackthursday wrote:
Hi All,

Does anyone know whether unofficial letters of recommendation can help in admissions? I have a close family friend who is a very successful entreprenaur (think Forbes top 100) and used to be on the admissions board of either Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton (an MBA alumn). The person in question has offered to write me an inofficial letter of recommendation and I just wanted to check if anyone is aware of how this would be seen by the admissions? My application is strong on its own but obviously quite a bit of luck goes into getting an interview at any of these schools. Let me know your thoughts.


I'd be cautious about going this route. It could have an impact, but I'd imagine for most candidates it would be a negative impact on the application.

In some ways, receiving this extra letter could flag to admissions that you aren't confident in your application or you don't see yourself as worthy of admission. I personally would not want this letter sent to the admissions team - but don't let one person leave you with regrets!
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Re: Unofficial recommendation [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2021, 11:34
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Hello, throwbackthursday. Why does the letter have to be unofficial? If this reference served on an admissions board, then he or she would probably know quite well both how to write the letter and how much a strong letter of recommendation from someone with connections could prove to be. This sounds like a great opportunity, but one that should probably be presented in the best way possible, not just as some addendum to the application.

Best of luck.

- Andrew
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Re: Unofficial recommendation [#permalink] New post   10 Jul 2023, 09:34
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Hi there,
You've stumbled upon an old discussion from our HBS Forum that's now outdated and has been archived. No more replies are possible here.
Interested in current discussions? Feel free to dive into our dedicated HBS Forum for all fresh things related to the HBS MBA program.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
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Re: Unofficial recommendation [#permalink]
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