Stupid Evaluations? Forum
-
sashyl
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:30 pm
Stupid Evaluations?
Hey, I apologize in advance if this has been done to death, but I couldn't find much info with a search. About five of the schools I'm applying to say they recommend 2 evaluations, but they are not required. I feel like this is overkill in addition to LOR, but I don't make the rules. Would I be crazy to not include evaluations? Another question, the people who did my LORs are all in China and with Chinese New Year will be impossible to reach for at least a month. If I have to do evaluations, can I have other people do it, like coworkers? I know that's kind of lame, but I don't have any other options! Thanks in advance.
-
txadv11
- Posts: 922
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 3:06 pm
Re: Stupid Evaluations?
I asked this question to many of the schools that I have applied to. All said don't send the evals, just your LORs.
" If I have to do evaluations, can I have other people do it, like coworkers? "
If you mean have a coworker take an eval for you? I guess the answer depends on what they can articulate that you have done. Keep in mind the general adcom consensus is academic are preferable.
FYI I had 2 recommenders who wrote great letters for me..then found out 6 months later during application time that my top choice REQUIRED evals and didn't accept LORs. To date I have only sent the evals to that school, while the other 20ish schools, have only received the LORs.
" If I have to do evaluations, can I have other people do it, like coworkers? "
If you mean have a coworker take an eval for you? I guess the answer depends on what they can articulate that you have done. Keep in mind the general adcom consensus is academic are preferable.
FYI I had 2 recommenders who wrote great letters for me..then found out 6 months later during application time that my top choice REQUIRED evals and didn't accept LORs. To date I have only sent the evals to that school, while the other 20ish schools, have only received the LORs.
-
bhan87
- Posts: 849
- Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:08 pm
Re: Stupid Evaluations?
Sending evals can only help your application, especially if they recommend sending some. I highly doubt they would auto-reject you for not sending any, however. Also, I'm very sure that 2 high quality LORs are preferable to 2 average LORs and 2 mediocre evals.sashyl wrote:Hey, I apologize in advance if this has been done to death, but I couldn't find much info with a search. About five of the schools I'm applying to say they recommend 2 evaluations, but they are not required. I feel like this is overkill in addition to LOR, but I don't make the rules. Would I be crazy to not include evaluations? Another question, the people who did my LORs are all in China and with Chinese New Year will be impossible to reach for at least a month. If I have to do evaluations, can I have other people do it, like coworkers? I know that's kind of lame, but I don't have any other options! Thanks in advance.
I wouldn't worry about it too much, but if you can find some one to send one for you, it might help your application.
On another related subject, I had a professor from the university I studied abroad at send an eval for me. Because the eval system is all done online, it was much more convenient than asking for an LOR. I think potentially this may become a helpful niche for the eval system in the future. Letters can be requested from a student's home university, while a professor from a study abroad program can write an eval and not have to worry about international postage.
