Should you use the optional referee section?

Question

Some universities want mandatory 2 referees and provide the optional 3rd referee section.

I know it's a subjective topic, but what do you think is better to do? To utilize the section or not to?

Thanks,
Arijit

abhimahna · Answer

Hey arijit2 , I would not prefer to do that because the optional referee can be helpful to me in case I get waitlisted in the same school.(To be always ready for the worst case scenario). All the best

arijit2 · Answer

Ah never thought of it that way.
But would you still consider the same scenario if you are applying this late in the process?

abhimahna · Answer

I would always prefer to consider the worst case scenarios. You never know what happens. That's a quality of a good manager, isn't it?

P.S: It's better to have the BEST in the two than reaching out for additional. You will be simply increasing the work load of admission committee and I hope you know they never would like to have that.

arijit2 · Answer

Thanks, that's a good point to consider. I will leave it for now then.

On a slightly different topic - do you know if the addition of words within "" or Bold Faced Words are encouraged in an SOP ?

abhimahna · Answer

I would like to refrain from doing so. Trust me what Bschools look for should come out implicitly while reading your sop rather than you highlighting the stuff. The standard is write the words that themselves speak.. Good luck

arijit2 · Answer

Thanks a lot Abhi for your kind help

StratusDonna · Answer

Let me paint a picture for you from the adcom side--that I lived for over 15 yrs-- imagine someone looking at their computer screen at 9 pm and seeing that they still have 40 more candidates to review before the next morning.... now each file already has a resume, transcript, essays, extracurricular info,
 rec letters, etc-- so there are already several things they have to click on to review the whole picture. This person is busy- stressed-- they may even have something else to do the next day that is a big stressor-- and remember their night might not be over until early morning... so ask yourself-- does this extra recommendation really ADD something MORE to your profile? If so-- do send it. But if it really does not show some new dimension... then have pity on the poor adcom who already has to read many other things too-- So that's how I'd look at it-- really the default is NO-- unless you see how this extra recommendation somehow adds additional value to your profile! Good luck to all of you-- and also best wishes to all adcom reading so diligently and trying so hard to make the right calls!

arijit2 · Answer

That's a very good point. Thanks a lot

Should you use the optional referee section?

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