Multiple people signing ONE graduate school letter of recommendation?

June 6, 2009 2:25 PM

Can more than one person sign a single grad school letter of recommendation?

I'm applying to a very competitive grad program in January. At my current job (middle school), I have had at least 5 co-workers/superiors offer to write me letters of recommendation. I never asked for these letters of recommendation, they just enthusiastically offered. I'm well liked at work and I take great pride in the fact that others notice my commitment to my job.

I am going to ask the principal to write my letter, as he has the most authority and is well known in the community (and he hired me). Is there a tactful way to let him know that my co-workers also support my quest to get into grad school? The principal and I have a good relationship.

As ridiculous as it may sound, can other teachers/staff members sign my letter of recommendation in support of me? Or would this be insane?

posted by pdx87 to Education (9 answers total)

I think that would be weird. The best way to incorporate recommendations from multiple people in this environment would be for them to send something to the principal that he can quote. Another alternative is to have multiple letters, but I assume you are already considered that and are getting other letters from other environments.
posted by grouse at 2:35 PM on June 6, 2009

Tell the people who want to support you to talk to the principal about including their comments in his letter. But there's nothing wrong with multiple letters.
posted by Hildegarde at 2:44 PM on June 6, 2009

you can always give grad schools more letters of recommendation than they require.
posted by chicago2penn at 3:10 PM on June 6, 2009

You can't always give grad schools more letters of recommendation than they require. Stanford told me that they would accept exactly three, and they have a web submission system where it's impossible to enter more than three. I think if you tried to send more by having people mail unsolicited mail to the department, they would probably toss them.

I think having the principal use quotes from these other people is a great idea.
posted by crinklebat at 5:06 PM on June 6, 2009

Is it an academic-oriented grad program? (As opposed to, say, MBA.) Then I wouldn't bother -- a few extra signatories from non-academic references are going to be near-meaningless.

That being said, the principal can certainly write, in the letter of recommendation, that all these other people are eager to recommend you too.
posted by paultopia at 5:45 PM on June 6, 2009

crinklebat, surely your letters didn't go through the web; you can specify the three you expect, but if additional people send letters in support, they aren't going to toss them. I had 5 when I applied (and was accepted) to Harvard, though I think only three were official. Admissions definitely read and kept all 5 on file.
posted by Hildegarde at 7:17 PM on June 6, 2009

I, too, sent more than they asked for, but ONLY because they had different things to say about different aspects of my candidacy (people from different fields I'd studied + people who knew about my teaching). If they're going to say approximately the same things, I think the idea to have the principal quote them is great. Someone I know who does grad school admissions bemoans the relative uniformity of recommendation letters (everyone says that the candidate is exceptional, blah, blah, blah), but having specific quotes from your co-workers may be an interesting way to set you apart at least a little bit. I wouldn't have other people sign the letter. That would make it stand out in a weird (probably not good) way.
posted by BlooPen at 8:35 PM on June 6, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll have letters from a professor, volunteer manager, and my boss (the principal). I think I'll ask to maybe get some quotes in there from the other teachers. I won't have them all sign it :)
posted by pdx87 at 12:13 AM on June 7, 2009

Hildegarde, my letters went through the web. You had to get a special exemption if your professor refused to send the letter through a web form. We were not given an address to send letters to, and the wording on the application was very serious about the fact that any letters beyond the three specified in the application would not be considered.

This may be atypical, but I really got the impression that sending more than three letters would not help, and might hurt.
posted by crinklebat at 9:54 PM on June 7, 2009