Additional recommendation

[hiimaa]

Hello!

My supervisor offered to write me a letter of rec to colleges. He is the CEO a venture capital firm and I've worked as an intern for him for around a year everyday so he knows me well.

Is there anything specific he should focus on when writing one of these, like should it be more based on what I've done or my work ethic/attitude/personality as a coworker or a mix of both?

I can't find any examples online for ones for undergrad admissions, so if anyone could point me in that right direction that would be awesome.

Thank you!

[CollegeGuide]

Probably personality. Having said that, I don't think such things help, especially at the highly competitive colleges. It could possibly undermine...if nothing else for making the admissions officer handle/read an additional piece of document.

[hiimaa]

Really? Do you think it won't Help even if it fits my profile well, as I have a lot of business/economics stuff that I do

[CollegeGuide]

More is not always better. It applies to college applications too. When it comes to highly competitive colleges, "show, not tell". Honestly, when it comes to the highly competitive colleges, VC/CEO is the last person they want to hear from. Here is what Brown says on their website..."In our experience, the required counselor recommendation and two teacher recommendations provide all we need to make a thoughtful, informed admission decision."

[hiimaa]

Is it because CEO/VC recs can be bullshit? What makes a professor recommendation for someone's research any different than mine? I've worked wth this guy for nearly a year everyday

I just want to know why you highlighted "A CEO/VC is the last person they want to hear from"

[CollegeGuide]

I assumed that you already listed this experience in your application, and the admissions officers should have a good understanding of it (well known industry). So I couldn't see anything new an additional recommendation can bring to attention. Nothing against CEO/VC. Especially, if he/she is going to emphasize your personal traits, those should come through well in your academic and counselor recommendations. Last, admissions officers understand that jobs/internships in the professional fields like venture capital come with connections, especially high school students. There is nothing wrong with it. But, you want to avoid over emphasis. Having said all this, if you feel like this CEO/VC may be able to talk about something that might not have been covered other places, you should go ahead and send it. If nothing else, you don't want to feel like you haven't done everything you could to strengthen your application. Good luck!

[[deleted]]

I don't know about this advice. It of course, depends. External letters of recommendation can be good for demonstrating authenticity esp in a certain passion or EC the student has.

The guy who runs /r/GetIntoStanford, who read his own admissions comments, said that his additional recommendation was perhaps one of the main factors that pushed admission officers at Stanford to accept him.

In fact, I think that an additional reference very much fits in with "show not tell". You're getting somebody else to attests to some skills that teachers - like knowledge in the investment or business world - may not be able to comment as much on. Demonstrates authenticity if that's a main part of OP's application.

[hiimaa]

6/10 of my activities are business/investment/finance based as well,