Nomination Letters of Rec Dilemma

runxc8

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Jul 18, 2016
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How much weight do letters of recommendation carry in the nomination process? The reason I'm asking is because for all my nomination sources, they require 3 loc's. One of the sources requires a letter from a teacher, coach, and counselor. As of right now, I have a teacher loc that is really good, a counselor loc (that I didn't get to read but I'm guessing is pretty typical), and a third one from my cross country coach. The problem is that, I appreciate the time that my coach spent on my letter, but I don't think that he really spent much time. Compared to my teacher's letter it's pretty short (like probably 200 words), and just doesn't seem all too in depth.

So my question is should I, at least for the other two nominating sources, ask someone else to write my third loc? Or will having one good loc kind of balance out the one from my coach? I'm also just worried too about taking the time to ask another person to write a letter because the deadline for one of my sources is coming up very soon.
 
It depends. I served on several nomination panels and what I look for is quality, not quantity. Typical letters of recommendation state what a good student the candidate is, GPA, SAT scores, leadership role, and etc. Well, I already know that from reviewing the nomination packet. It also usually states what a good cadet/midshipman and future military officer the applicant will make, without a qualifier (i.e. I am retired military, several students I instructed are graduates to SA and Johnny displays the same characteristics as those kids). So unless the letter of recommendation highlights something not in the application packet and has a qualifier, I move on.
 
It depends. I served on several nomination panels and what I look for is quality, not quantity. Typical letters of recommendation state what a good student the candidate is, GPA, SAT scores, leadership role, and etc. Well, I already know that from reviewing the nomination packet. It also usually states what a good cadet/midshipman and future military officer the applicant will make, without a qualifier (i.e. I am retired military, several students I instructed are graduates to SA and Johnny displays the same characteristics as those kids). So unless the letter of recommendation highlights something not in the application packet and has a qualifier, I move on.

So in my coach's letter, he does write some anecdotal parts about things that would not be seen in only my nomination application. Is that good to have then, even though it's maybe not the most well-written, or is it even better than having a letter that is well-written but essentially says the same as the other two?
 
So in my coach's letter, he does write some anecdotal parts about things that would not be seen in only my nomination application. Is that good to have then, even though it's maybe not the most well-written, or is it even better than having a letter that is well-written but essentially says the same as the other two?

It depends. My opinion a different letter of recommendation is much better than the standard he is a good student recommendation.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about letters of recommendation, unless you are perfect on everything else. Worry about what you can control.
 
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