How many LORs to send?

[zzwanforever]

I have 5 LORs ready. But most of schools only require 3.

I called several schools and they said I could send as many LORs as I want. They WILL read them all.

I am not sure this is the case for all the schools. How many LORs did you guys send? Anyone sent more than 3?

Thanks.

[apfphd]

I'm sending 5.

[weirdo]

for most of the schools i sent 4...i dont think 5 will be a problem too, for example, vanderbilt's online app says that it accepts upto 5 letters..

[veroniquaz]

If the online system only accepts three, do you think it is OK to send a fourth one by post?

[jahizbarlas]

i know in princeton's case, they told me that the online system has a limitation and thats why it says 3 there. i was told that a forth by paper would not be a problem.

[cooper]

I am sending 4 to every school. Some schools allow 4 online while others have a limit of 3. For these, I am sending the fourth by paper. I figure if they dont want to read it they dont have to. I can't imagine an adcom throwing your application out because you have an extra letter (but I could be wrong). I just had my 3 most important letters sent online, and the least important by paper.

Just to mention, Virginia only asked for two leeters online. I thought that was strange. In this case I will email the department before sending additional ones.

[asquare]

I really don't see what the big mystery is. Send the number the school asks for. I suspect the marginal value of additional letters is low. If you haven't convinced them to admit you with 3 letters, is the 4th really going to do the trick? If it was so much better than the other letters, why wasn't it one of the first you chose?

I do think the adcoms want to be fair. They don't want to penalize people who follow instructions relative to those who send additional material. If you are going to send more than the requested number of letters, IMO there should be a good reason -- more than "look, LOTS of people like me" or "well, no one thinks I'm going to win a Nobel Prize, but I can find a lot of people who think I'll pass, so I'll send lots of B+ letters to make up for not having three A letters."

Of course, the flip side is that adcoms want to have as much information as possible when making their decisions. If all four letters really add something unique, then go ahead and send them all. But don't just try to bury them with paperwork or replace quality with quantity.

[cooper]

I think asquare makes a good point about the marginal value. For instance, I had a letter from an Econ Prof who I RA'd for, a letter from an Econ Prof who I worked on independent research with, and a letter from an Econ Prof with good connections. The fourth, is from a Math Prof.

I do not have a "superstar math background" and I am taking analysis now so it will not be on my transcripts with a grade. I basically showed off in his class and did awesome on the mideterm and asked him to write a letter. I believe his letter adds a new dimension to my application and this is the reason for the fourth letter. I would not say it is not an important letter, but I don't think it is a substitute for letters from Economists. But still, as asquare mentioned, it gives more information to the adcoms that they surely would not have otherwise.