Can you get accepted with just 2 instead of 3 recs?

[TexasGuy]

Or is it hard to say? I spoke with an admissions rep in UT Austin who said they've admitted students based on just 2 recs.

I should have asked for more details though. I think he said its rolling admissions, and they've admitted students even before the third rec has been submitted

 

Is it common? 

[Loric]

Yup, totally happens. Had a friend apply for a program that only needed 2 recs and his second rec never got there. He was enrolled in classes before he found out the second letter had never arrived.

[biotechie]

I know people who have gotten accepted when their third letter never arrived. However, you should really make it a point to try and get a third letter submitted. It is possible that one of your first two will not be as amazing as you expect, and being a letter down is also sometimes one strike against you as an applicant.

[fuzzylogician]

Generally speaking, it's common wisdom that you want to have two strong letters and it's ok if the third one is positive but not particularly glowing. I've heard many stories of people who were accepted based on such strong letters and despite a weaker third one. I've also heard stories of people being accepted based on two strong letters before the third one even arrived, but I believe that at least in some cases the third letter may still be necessary for the record because the graduate school may want to see a full file before making you an official offer. This probably varies by school. My guess is that public schools are held to higher standards of transparency and may worry more about getting sued, but I'm sure someone will come up with some anecdote that goes the other way. How common it is is anybody's game -- I'd bet not terribly so; probably more so for rolling admissions than when there is a strict deadline. But I doubt anybody could give you numbers.