Just like interviews, supplemental letters of recommendation are generally listed by most colleges as an optional part of your application. However, like many so-called “optional” parts of the college application process, it’s worth planning and positioning yourself to successfully submit a supplemental letter of recommendation in order to stand out from the ever-increasing competition. Supplemental letters of recommendation, often from an internship employer or project manager, are a good way to “show” your extracurriculars rather than simply “telling” colleges about them, and these letters can sometimes make the difference between a generic extracurricular profile and one that stands out from the crowd.
But how do you get one of these letters in the first place? More importantly, when almost all letters of recommendation received by colleges are generally positive and supportive, how can you ensure your letter is better than the thousands of other letters raving about their students? In the past, we’ve written about the general mechanics of a good and bad letter, specifically from school teachers and mentors. This article, however, will focus specifically on extracurricular letters (such as summer employment, research assistant positions, etc) – these are not the letters your school submits but rather the ones you independently add on your Common App. We will walk you through the ins and outs of these letters while drawing some learnings from one of the most effective letters of recommendations I have seen in my career, which was given to one of my former students by his employer.
Why Supplemental Letters Matter
Taking on extracurricular roles through the form of a work engagement, like an internship, are great for your resume and activity list. Not only does doing so show initiative, but it also shows that your academic and extracurricular capabilities and interests go beyond the confines of your high school environment. Naturally, selective colleges are interested in these experiences, but they also need a way to assess and score the degree of impact, difficulty, and significance of your role.
There are a couple of ways they do this. The first is the role itself. For example, spending your summer interning at NASA is obviously a lot more impressive to a college than working at your local fast food chain, although both show the initiative of getting a job. However, this assessment can be made by colleges directly through your listing of your job on the Common App, and there is no level of depth taken into account beyond the inherent nature of the job.
For this reason, colleges want to dive deeper to understand not just what you did, but how you did. That’s what most letters of recommendations are for, and they usually do a good job of explaining your job and performance. What many people don’t take into account, though, is that colleges care even more about why you did it than what and how you did.
An Example
Let’s take a look at a hypothetical example to see how this pans out in real life. Which position would be read more favorably by a college admissions officer: a summer spent coding at Microsoft’s student internship program, or a student’s internship programming at their local city agency/bureau? Many might be quick to say that the Microsoft job is likely more competitive (similar to the NASA vs. fast food example above), but that’s only part of the equation. In fact, this is really a trick question, because we need to add the how into the equation.
Let’s introduce letters of recommendation into the question, then. As most letters do, the employer is likely writing very positive things about the student’s performance (hence the name, letter of recommendation!). So, even if the two letters here both commend the applicant for equally high performances, colleges still have no way of assessing a difference between the two students. Frankly, they see letters like these all the time, and while it cannot hurt the applicant, it adds a very marginal boost to the profile by simply affirming what the student is likely already writing about in their activity list and essays.
Colleges therefore move beyond this and add the why into the picture, which can easily render a stark difference between these two hypotheticals. If the Microsoft letter of recommendation talks about how well the student coded but fails to mention what sort of vision and impact the student brought by wanting to intern at Microsoft in the first place, it becomes more of a review rather than a story – this is the most common type of letter that colleges see. On the other hand, if the student actively sought out a local job because they were passionate about the organization’s mission statement and knew their coding skills could bring the team one step closer to achieving their goal, there’s a story for the letter to tell and stand out. This type of letter does not solely confirm the details the students provide, but also adds a new dimension to the candidate’s profile, serving like a second Common App personal statement by telling a narrative about the candidate from an external perspective.
In this hypothetical, the Microsoft student is a stereotype of what a lot of the high-achieving, Ivy-aiming students look like. The local bureau one is actually the real story of one of my former students, who now attends an Ivy League institution. His letter, which his admissions officer later told him was one of the primary reasons he was admitted, took the concept of “show, not tell” to the next level – a trend I’ve seen across many similar letters of recommendation that were successful in the admissions process.
Nowadays, recommendations have to do more than simply recommend. They have to show a narrative, complete with stories of excellent performance but also with a backstory of motivation and drive. This is exactly why colleges don’t tend to look too favorably at jobs obtained through family connections – they lack an authentic and meaningful demonstration of a student’s eagerness to join an organization greater than them and put their skills to good use.
We suggest you apply this logic to two parts of your candidacy building. First, if you’re looking for a summer job, research position, or project, consider what the relevance of the organization is to your personal story and goals. Are you taking a job because it sounds good, or because it allows you to do good? Secondly, when asking your employer/mentor for a letter, stress the importance of your particular story. Ask them to not only touch on your performance, but to include a story of how you sought out that job, what they saw in you that led them to hire you, and how the student has not only contributed to your organization, but also that the organization has contributed to the student’s goals and development.
Final Thoughts
A supplemental letter of recommendation is not a strict requirement when applying to top colleges, and many students get into their top-choice schools without one. With colleges admissions becoming ever more competitive however, many students want to find any edge they can get to improve their admissions chances. A spectacular supplemental letter of recommendation can give you that extra boost that means the difference between acceptance and the waitlist.
Of course, another way to get that extra boost is to get help applying to colleges. Just as you’d hire a guide to navigate unfamiliar terrain, so too can a mentor guide you through the pitfalls and challenges of the college applications process. To hear about how we can provide you with this guidance, schedule a free consultation today. We’ve mastered every aspect of college admissions, and are always happy to hear from you.
