Is it looked upon negatively to submit only 2 out 3 available letters of recommendation?

[mpamppquestions]

So a few of my applications require two letters (both are done now) but allows for a third. Do you think it's looked upon negatively at all to only submit two? I got one of my letters of recommendation written by the executive director of the non-profit I work for, so if I got a third it would be from my direct supervisor at the same place, which seems redundant. The only other relevant work experience I have wouldn't really net good letters, to be honest; not because of my performance at the internship, but I don't think the work I did was deep enough in breadth or for a long enough of period of time for my bosses to really have much substance to write about. My other letter writer is my advisor from undergrad. What do you guys think? My two letters are strong.

[chanoschanos]

Maximize all the recommendation letters you can have. If the program says until 5 recommendations. Just do it!

[gradcafecomments]

I think it's good to submit the maximum amount.

Even though your direct supervisor is at the same place, that person will provide a different view point than the other recommendation.

Gaining more recommendations also showcases your ability to gain support from people...

However, if they specifically say they only want 2 then don't provide them something they aren't looking for. If they say they will read 3, then hey submit another one.

[gradcafecomments]

But to answer your question, it depends on the applicant pool. If a lot of people have 3 strong recommendations it might be odd that you provide 2.
However, that may not be the case.

That's why we can only recommend to do your best with the application because whether or not it is a negative will depend completely on the application pool/what you are applying for and how competitive it is.

I would generally say if your 2 recommendations are strong then no it is not negative. However if you have any weak points in other areas of your applications, then I strongly advise submitting a 3rd recommendation

[fuzzylogician]

19 minutes ago, chanoschanos said:

Maximize all the recommendation letters you can have. If the program says until 5 recommendations. Just do it!

Caveat: if you're submitting weak letters that aren't helping your case just because the application says you can submit 5, don't. Only submit letters that help your application. If that means just three stellar ones, that is much better than 3 stellar ones and 2 that work against you. 

Submitting two strong letters and one weaker one is most likely fine, assuming weaker still means positive in some ways and hopefully also touching on areas others don't. Insisting on submitting five where some might be weak might not be wise. Of course if someone has five stellar letters they might be viewed more positively (and if you do, it's a no brainer, submit them all!), but if you don't have that, you have to be honest with yourself. In any event, the answer really is "it depends". But I really don't think the advice to always submit the maximum is necessarily correct in all cases. 

[chanoschanos]

2 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

Caveat: if you're submitting weak letters that aren't helping your case just because the application says you can submit 5, don't. Only submit letters that help your application. If that means just three stellar ones, that is much better than 3 stellar ones and 2 that work against you. 

Submitting two strong letters and one weaker one that at least touches on something the others might not is fine. Insisting on submitting five where some might be weak might not be wise. In any event, the answer really is "it depends". But I really don't think the advice to always submit the maximum is necessarily correct in all cases. 

 

So you should ask recommendation from those people that will make your application stronger whether it is less or more than 3 recommendations. 

[fuzzylogician]

You have to submit the required number of letters, whatever that is. It's of course in your best interest to submit the strongest letters you can, so that's who you should ask first. Beyond that, if you can submit additional optional letters (or any other documents, for that matter), it only makes sense to do so if these additional letters help your application and not otherwise. That seems like pretty basic logic to me. At a very basic level, of course you shouldn't submit a weak letter that you worry might actually hurt you. Now, should you submit a letter that's just meh and doesn't do much to further your application? I would probably err on the side of 'no', though I know not everyone agrees. But here is my thinking: We know that adcom members are busy, and only have so much time to spend on each application. More materials = less time spent per page. So someone might be skimming your good letter and your bad letter and not getting a particularly good impression of either. Or, I even know of cases where people will read the first X (required) letters and might skim or even skip the others, and then it's a matter of luck whether the weak one is ordered earlier in the application and gets read more carefully than a much stronger letter that appears later in the packet. Either way, not a happy outcome. So I say only submit documents that you think would actively leave a *good* impression, not just a meh or not-bad impression, especially if they are unsolicited. If you're causing extra work for the readers, it should be worth it. 

[jeanetics17]

I submitted 4 letters in all of my applications because I believed each person could speak to a different facet of me. I'd say maximize the amount of letters you submit.