Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Pratt Institute
University of Southern California (USC)
Tulane University
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Temple University
University of Oregon
Cranbrook Academy of Art
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
Kansas State University
Need advice for letters of recommendation
Hey guys, I'm applying for M.arch this year and I could use some advice on who to ask for a letter of recommendation. I already know for sure about one of them but I'm still debating on who to pick for my 2 other letter writers. Here's my choices:
Former Arch History teacher:
Pros- She's an amazing writer and she still remembers me. I'm pretty sure she can write me kickass letters.
Cons- she's an arch history associate professor not a design professor
Former arch design teacher and adviser:
Pros- He still remembers me
Cons- He's retired. He's kind of an old timer so I'm not sure how much enthusiasm or effort he'll put in my letters
Former arch design teacher:
Pros- He's still an active design professor
Cons- His English is mediocre and I'm not sure how much effort he'll put in my letters. I'm also not sure how fully he remembers me.
Additional info: I graduated in 2010 and currently applying to 7 grad schools.
Being "retired" and an "old timer" is hardly a con.
You should also think about quality more than quantity. Asking people to write letters for seven applications is going to water them down and reduce their efficacy. Basically, you are wasting their time.
What you should do is narrow your list to about three schools (a dream school, a more realistic option and lastly a safety school). Then you should seek out context specific recommendations. For example, if you are applying to Harvard and you have a professor or employer who went to Harvard then that is the person you want to write you a letter of recommendation (and you don't want to annoy them by asking them to write letters to another six schools).
Seriously, anybody that asks me for seven letters of recommendation gets the most polite but banal, cliché filled and yawn inducing letter that not only can I assure that they won't get into the school, I suspect that the school doesn't even notice that they applied.
Yo!
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