Recommend Letters
- Thread starter Navy1503
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usna1985
15-Year Member
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Why would you use a family member?
As a general rule, it's not good to use family members for two reasons. First, people reading the letters are going to assume that family members are biased in a way that non-family members aren't. Second, what will your family member say other than: John / Jane is a wonderful person whose always wanted to attend USNA . . .blah, blah, blah?
IF (huge if) you decide to submit an extra LOR to USNA (or, really for an MOC as well), it should be someone who can talk about some part of your life that would not readily be known to your teachers and which couldn't readily be covered / discussed by your BGO. One example is if you work every day after school (in lieu of ECAs) -- your employer would be a good option.
I could see using a family member under two circumstances as detailed below. First, you work for your family. For example, you work on a family farm to such an extent that you don't have time for sports and ECAs. It would be better if someone on the farm other than your parent could write the letter but maybe it's a small operation.
To be clear, the above applies if the work that you do for your family takes up so much of your time that you really have no ECAs or sports -- especially if you need to work to support your family or family business. This wouldn't apply if you spend a couple of hours each week or a couple of weeks each summer just helping out.
Another situation might be if you are providing care for a relative (sick or elderly) and the only people who see you doing this are family members. For example, you have a single parent and that person is going through chemo so you have to care for your younger siblings. Again, this would be if you are doing this to such an extent that you can't participate in school or non-school activities.
There's a world of people out there . . . absent a special circumstance, I'd use one of them before I'd use a relative.
As a general rule, it's not good to use family members for two reasons. First, people reading the letters are going to assume that family members are biased in a way that non-family members aren't. Second, what will your family member say other than: John / Jane is a wonderful person whose always wanted to attend USNA . . .blah, blah, blah?
IF (huge if) you decide to submit an extra LOR to USNA (or, really for an MOC as well), it should be someone who can talk about some part of your life that would not readily be known to your teachers and which couldn't readily be covered / discussed by your BGO. One example is if you work every day after school (in lieu of ECAs) -- your employer would be a good option.
I could see using a family member under two circumstances as detailed below. First, you work for your family. For example, you work on a family farm to such an extent that you don't have time for sports and ECAs. It would be better if someone on the farm other than your parent could write the letter but maybe it's a small operation.
To be clear, the above applies if the work that you do for your family takes up so much of your time that you really have no ECAs or sports -- especially if you need to work to support your family or family business. This wouldn't apply if you spend a couple of hours each week or a couple of weeks each summer just helping out.
Another situation might be if you are providing care for a relative (sick or elderly) and the only people who see you doing this are family members. For example, you have a single parent and that person is going through chemo so you have to care for your younger siblings. Again, this would be if you are doing this to such an extent that you can't participate in school or non-school activities.
There's a world of people out there . . . absent a special circumstance, I'd use one of them before I'd use a relative.
- Joined
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The last thing a candidate should do is provide LOR from a family member (or even a family friend). The recipient, reading between the lines regardless of how glowing that LOR might be, will think: “Hmmm, this candidate can’t get anyone to vouch for them beyond a family member/friend. Hmmm…”
In short: Don’t do it. Go find someone who knows you well who does have an obvious conflict of interest.
In short: Don’t do it. Go find someone who knows you well who does have an obvious conflict of interest.