Number of Recommenders for NSF Fellowship.

[MorgieLilly]

Quick Question:

The online app seems to let you add as many as you want. How many would you add? I'm centering a lot of my app around my interdisciplinary background, so I was thinking of having 6:

-2 econ
-1 math
-1 phlo of science
-1 advisor in geophysics research
-1 advisor in independent study on engineering for developing communities.

Is this too many? Are there downsides to having a lot of letters?

Thanks guys. : )

[tm_guru]

That's about 2-3 too many, IMHO. Reference letters and their impact suffer from the law of diminishing marginal returns, which can approach zero, and given the time taken to read them, unless they really add something to your application, can even be negative.

[MorgieLilly]

Originally Posted by tm_guru

That's about 2-3 too many, IMHO. Reference letters and their impact suffer from the law of diminishing marginal returns, which can approach zero, and given the time taken to read them, unless they really add something to your application, can even be negative.

Thanks for your advice. So obviously keep the two economists, right? Who should I cut?

[piffle_dragon]

Originally Posted by MorgieLilly

Quick Question:

The online app seems to let you add as many as you want. How many would you add? I'm centering a lot of my app around my interdisciplinary background, so I was thinking of having 6:

-2 econ
-1 math
-1 phlo of science
-1 advisor in geophysics research
-1 advisor in independent study on engineering for developing communities.

Is this too many? Are there downsides to having a lot of letters?

Thanks guys. : )

i agree in that this is too many. The math professor will be most credible in showing that you are capable of graduate work in economics. Unless the others have something EXTREMELY enlightening and compelling to say about you i would cut them as they will be given little to no weight by an economist.