Extra recommendations - How to send them and who to send them to

Hello guys! It came as a surprise, but my former employers (pretty high-up-there guys) decided to write me an extra rec. and printed it out for me in a sealed envelope. Now,

Is it ok to simply address it to the admissions office of the college? How will they know who is it for? Should I just put APPLICANT: [my name] on the back of the envelope?

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

Reply 1

hobnob

14

rrumora

Hello guys! It came as a surprise, but my former employers (pretty high-up-there guys) decided to write me an extra rec. and printed it out for me in a sealed envelope. Now,

Is it ok to simply address it to the admissions office of the college? How will they know who is it for? Should I just put APPLICANT: [my name] on the back of the envelope?

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

Call your college first and ask if they'd accept an extra reference. There's no point in sending it to them if you don't even know whether they'll actually look at it.

Reply 2

cpchem

14

rrumora

Hello guys! It came as a surprise, but my former employers (pretty high-up-there guys) decided to write me an extra rec. and printed it out for me in a sealed envelope. Now,

Is it ok to simply address it to the admissions office of the college? How will they know who is it for? Should I just put APPLICANT: [my name] on the back of the envelope?

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

They won't take anything that they've not specifically requested into account - don't waste the stamp.

Reply 3

rnshan

13

rrumora

Hello guys! It came as a surprise, but my former employers (pretty high-up-there guys) decided to write me an extra rec. and printed it out for me in a sealed envelope. Now,

Is it ok to simply address it to the admissions office of the college? How will they know who is it for? Should I just put APPLICANT: [my name] on the back of the envelope?

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

Without a doubt I would send it. I would send it to the college where the application is considered with applicant name / course /UCAS ref number. They make take it into account or may be not - but you would never know until you send. good luck :yep:

Reply 4

rrumora

OP

1

cpchem

They won't take anything that they've not specifically requested into account - don't waste the stamp.

well that's what I thought before, btu then I asked my tutor if they'd like my high school grade transcript (it's amazing to me that they don't ask for one in the first place) and their reply was "yeah, sure, send it in", so now I'm not sure. :s-smilie:

Reply 5

cpchem

14

I suppose the worst that could happen is that they'd bin it. It's your choice, really. All I would say is don't kick up a fuss if they ignore it - they're under absolutely no obligation to read everything you send them.

Reply 6

pf1

4

rrumora

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

No.

This year the colleges are trying to clamp down on additional supporting materials, references etc. Unless your circumstances have changed since you submitted your UCAS application (i.e., unless your reference is providing new, different information), you shouldn't send anything.

Reply 7

rnshan

13

I am sorry -I do not understand the logic of not sending - in the worst case they will bin it. But a good admission tutor's mission is to look for right candidates - so I think they will look at all docs to determine that. :smile:

Reply 8

thomasjtl

9

No.

This year the colleges are trying to clamp down on additional supporting materials, references etc. Unless your circumstances have changed since you submitted your UCAS application (i.e., unless your reference is providing new, different information), you shouldn't send anything.

While they stress that additional references or anything like that aren't required, there's certainly no policy of specifically asking people not to. The oxford access scheme (a student organised scheme that had no official standing with the university whatsoever until recently) worked for years on the basis of essentially just sending extra information in about candidates).

Since you have the reference already, and they're also happy to accept your transcript I'd send it in. If you've not sent your transcript already, maybe include it in the same envelope. Otherwise, stick it in a larger envelope with a note containing your details etc.

Reply 9

thomasjtl

9

Oh and just to explain- they don't ask for transcripts because in the UK we have a lot more external examinations than you do, which carry more weight. Since tutors aren't so familiar with international education systems, and that internal grades are only comparable between students at the same school they don't tend to put so much weight on them. They also get a reference from your teachers, which will give them some insight into how your teachers think you're doing.

Reply 10

pf1

4

thomasjtl

While they stress that additional references or anything like that aren't required, there's certainly no policy of specifically asking people not to.

Yes there is.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/forms/end_of_the_oaf.html

Can I submit an additional personal statement or can my referee submit an additional reference?

The UCAS application is the main record of the application, and information that is relevant to the admissions process should be included there. Oxford is not the only university that would wish to know about any particular circumstances that may have impacted upon an applicant’s academic record or mitigating personal circumstances. If there is additional information that is identified after the UCAS application has been submitted, only then should referees submit further material, directly to the Tutor for Admissions in the College that the student has been invited to attend for interview, or, in the case of Medicine or Physiological Sciences, the Pre-Clinical Admissions administrator.

Reply 11

Inter-Company

rrumora

Hello guys! It came as a surprise, but my former employers (pretty high-up-there guys) decided to write me an extra rec. and printed it out for me in a sealed envelope. Now,

Is it ok to simply address it to the admissions office of the college? How will they know who is it for? Should I just put APPLICANT: [my name] on the back of the envelope?

Does Oxford even accept extra recommendations? It's pretty common in the States and some other countries.

I was in the same position when I was applying and I know for 100% that they do not accept extra references - give them a call to confirm if you don't believe it

reason being is that it would be unfair against other applicants who only have the oppurtunity to send in one references etc on UCAS

its going to get discarded if you send it so there is no point

Reply 12

Inter-Company

thomasjtl

While they stress that additional references or anything like that aren't required, there's certainly no policy of specifically asking people not to. The oxford access scheme (a student organised scheme that had no official standing with the university whatsoever until recently) worked for years on the basis of essentially just sending extra information in about candidates).

Since you have the reference already, and they're also happy to accept your transcript I'd send it in. If you've not sent your transcript already, maybe include it in the same envelope. Otherwise, stick it in a larger envelope with a note containing your details etc.

yes there is a direct rule stating no additional material be sent in unless requested or through changed circumstances

I don't understand how people are saying the worst they will do is bin it - yes they may, but ignoring (or not checking) rules in regards to application will never look particularly good

Reply 13

thomasjtl

9

That page is talking in the context of the oxford application form which had an extra ps and reference section on it. It's found a few links down and hardly a prominent section of admissions pages. Clearly it's not an appeal for extra references, however i don't think you can interpret that to mean that there's now a rule that says extra information sent in will be disregarded. Indeed it says that if you have more information that became available after your ucas application, then you could send it in.

As for a giving a bad impression, you act like decisions are made by the admissions office- subject tutors aren't going to care less about what you say or send to the admissions office- they exist precisely so that the tutors don't have to deal with the admin of the admissions process.

Reply 14

Inter-Company

thomasjtl

That page is talking in the context of the oxford application form which had an extra ps and reference section on it. It's found a few links down and hardly a prominent section of admissions pages. Clearly it's not an appeal for extra references, however i don't think you can interpret that to mean that there's now a rule that says extra information sent in will be disregarded. Indeed it says that if you have more information that became available after your ucas application, then you could send it in.

As for a giving a bad impression, you act like decisions are made by the admissions office- subject tutors aren't going to care less about what you say or send to the admissions office- they exist precisely so that the tutors don't have to deal with the admin of the admissions process.

THEY WILL NOT (and this from the undergrad addmissions office themselves - phone or email to confirm) ACCEPT ADDITIONAL MATERIAL!

For god's sake, even applying simple logic here one can understand why........

It is unfair to other candidates if say you have one candidate who gets in, for example, an additional reference from an employer (in the case of the OP, 'top men in the industry') - not all applicants will have the oppurtunity to work with/aquire work experience in this manor (a fact which is re

the same principle applies to the references case above - if they openly said that additional material would be acceptable, than that is another thing, but they don't - it is unfair to other applicants and to quote what the undergrad officer told me, 'we will only use the UCAS form when making decisions and we have stopped the use of additional material as of 1-2 years ago)

feel free anyone, to ring up undergrad admissions and I am 100% certain you will be told the same answer :smile:

Reply 15

thomasjtl

9

You're forgetting that the OP's college has already said they'd be happy to look at his transcript, it seems your rule isn't quite so universal.

I see where you're coming from over fairness, however that's just not the way admissions work, is it? Medical students get rejected all the time on the basis of their lack of (enough) work experience, and some people have far better educational opportunities than others but they do still use gcse results in admissions decisions. For very good reasons admissions decisions are based on what is known about a candidate, not what might have been if things were different. The important issue here is context- I agree it would be unfair to pick one candidate over another on the basis that one had a prestigious work placement because that doesn't mean very much in an academic context, but it's not unfair to use the reference to get a better understanding of the candidate's skills, work ethic and ability to adapt to different situations, and it may well serve to clarify an area the tutor wasn't sure about the candidate.

Reply 16

pf1

4

thomasjtl

Clearly it's not an appeal for extra references, however i don't think you can interpret that to mean that there's now a rule that says extra information sent in will be disregarded.

I don't need to interpret it; I know what it's supposed to mean. It's included on the page about the Oxford Application Form because this document in previous years was what frequently led to schools sending in additional letters.

Firstly, some college admissions offices have for several years routinely filtered such correspondence anyway, so that only pertinent information gets passed on to the tutors. Secondly, this year all colleges have agreed a policy not to pass on supplementary references etc. where the content is irrelevant. All information relevant to the admissions process should be included on the UCAS application. Schools who blithely send in references anyway may well find they get a letter back explaining why they shouldn't do this any more.

Inter-Company is correct (if a little ebullient!); this is a matter of parity of information. Why should one applicant be allowed to have more than one reference when the next has stuck to the UCAS parameters? Who's to say that the second applicant couldn't also have had additional glowing references sent in, had they known it was permitted? That's why it's being discouraged. I'm not saying this will work blanket across the board this year - some college admissions offices will probably pass on the material regardless, if only to save extra admin - but there is some monitoring going on to assess the material which comes in, to see how much is genuinely important information and how much is of the so-and-so-is-a-jolly-good-chap-and-by-the-way-rather-good-at-rowing variety.

OP: by all means send in your reference if you wish, and certainly do so if it contains information relevant to your application which is new, or which the tutors should have been made aware of previously. Just be aware that it isn't guaranteed to make a difference, particularly if the college considering you is clamping down on this issue.

Extra recommendations - How to send them and who to send them to

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