Fourth supplementary letter of recommendation?

[Jack Horner]

Background: I'm in the process of applying to an M.A. program that requires 3 LORs. I already have all three LORs secured (including one from my direct supervisor and colleague in a related field over the last 3 years), and all of them have already been submitted to the program. While polishing my SoP, I was checking out the faculty list, and realized that one of my former professors (at another institution) is currently teaching in the program to which I'm applying. I e-mailed him asking if he would endorse my candidacy with the adcomm. I was thinking of a short, simple 1-2 paragraph letter to the adcomm (something to the extent of "Yes, I know this kid. Yes, he can do the work in this program, he will be an asset, etc."). I did reasonably well in his class, though we didn't have a particularly close relationship outside of class. If it makes any difference, I do mention his class in my SoP.

He responded by stating that he would be happy to write a letter of recommendation, and asking me to forward any relevant PDFs, etc. It's pretty clear that he remembers me 4 years later.

My question: Is there any scenario where having an additional LOR from a professor in the program where I'm applying be a bad thing? Or should I push him to stick with a simple statement of endorsement?

Thanks for any help/advice you guys (and gals) can offer.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Jack Horner

[fuzzylogician]

Scenario where it's bad:

Website explicitly says "please do NOT send unsolicited materials."

Possible outcome: you piss off the adcom, and they chuck your application.

Scenario where it's good:

Pretty much every other scenario.

You could contact someone in the program (DGS, grad secretary) and ask for permission to make sure, but I think you should really be fine receiving a fourth letter from a professor who teaches at that same school. It will be clear to everyone on the committee why you requested the extra letter, and I don't see why it should upset anyone. So, don't ask for an endorsement if you can get a good letter!

[graddamn]

Check with the program, each program tends to have different policies towards lors. If they will add an additional lor to your file then by all means do it!

The only way this could hurt your app is if the lor were poor. BUT if the prof. remembers you fondly after four years, I don't think that would be a problem.

[EelAwaits]

I submitted four LORs, after asking the dept admin whether that was acceptable to the adcomm. In my cover letter, I very briefly explained why each was relevant.

[Jack Horner]

Thanks for the advice, everybody. It seems like he's willing to write an additional LOR, and he doesn't seem to think that it will be a problem.