Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

I have a good problem. I am about to finish my application to a top tier school; my two bosses are finishing up their recommendations, which are due in the next few days for a Round 1 application. However, I was talking to my father last night and realized he rents his old condo to the Director of Public Relations for this school (why I just realized this now is beyond me). We contacted him last night, asking him for any tips, and he surprised me by offering to write a recommendation.

Here are the issues:
-I already have my two recommendations. It appears to be actually kind of tough to get one off the list once they've been started, and the school does not let you submit a third. The recommendations are from my direct boss and his direct boss (both have known me for ten years). It's also an odd thing to tell them to scrap the recommendation that they've been working on (yet still submit it to the other schools I'm applying to).
-He doesn't know me at all. He asked me for a summary of my qualifications, etc., but he would not be able to provide strong answers to the questions the school asks (which require very detailed examples).

My current plan is this:
Ask him to submit a letter/email directly to Admissions, even though this goes against what they ask for. He can then write a letter without worrying about answering in what capacity he knows me, etc. and just focus on recommending me.

My concern is - would this raise some type of red flag? I'm going against what ADCOM asks for. Does anyone have any experience with either 1) submitting a third recommendation or 2) getting a recommendation from someone high up in the administration of the school? He is actually the spokesperson for all parts of the university except the business school, which acts independently... although he hired the spokesperson for the business school.

I'd appreciate any thoughts!

I'm not sure what school you are applying to, which could potentially sway the answer to this question - if the school is super, hard-line particular about not accepting any additional letters of recommendation beyond your official ones, then I would advise you against irritating the adcom by getting an additional letter.

From my own experience, however, I know that people outside of my official recommenders (alums who I worked with or got connected with through my network) sent e-mails to the adcom supporting my candidacy at a few of the top-tier schools that I applied to. And, I think it was okay, because I was accepted. It was no more than one additional person per school, as far as I know.

If you know of instances where this has been done at your school of choice, then I think it is okay for you to ask the Director of Public Relations to send an e-mail to the adcom.

Good luck!

Julie

Julie, thanks for the response. I PMed you with a little more information. The school says it accepts two letters of recommendation, but it does not mention anything warning against e-mailing more information to ADCOM.

I suggest you talk to the guy who has offered to recommend you, telling him the situation, thanking him and explaining that your other recs are in the system. Ask his advice. He may know the people in admissions and may even sent in "extra" recs before.

A second alternative is to ask the admissions department directly. They have certainly dealt with the question before.

On balance, it's nice to have someone on staff and an email could be the perfect compromise, but in the end, your best bet is to use people who know you and have seen your work and can talk about specifics. Remember, the point is to pass on information about you, not about who your father rents a condo to.