The OLINformer

As the application deadline approaches… some topical/timely questions that many of you have been asking…

1. May I submit music/art/other extra stuff for my application?

We are certainly open to supplemental pieces to an application! However, please note that anything sent to us becomes the property of Olin College (i.e. we won’t send it back) and that we cannot guarantee that any supplemental materials (excluding letters of recommendation) will be reviewed. Given the size of our applicant pool, there are simply some things that we cannot get to in our short reading season if we’re to actually read ALL of the applications submitted!

2. May I send additional recommendations? Do you prefer a science or math teacher for the second teacher recommendation?

The simple answer is the first part is… Yes, most definitely! But don’t go crazy - we don’t need letters from every teacher you’ve ever had or the department chairs or headmaster/principal of your school. It’s about the quality of the letter and how well the person knows you, not the title underneath the signature.

If you’d like to submit an additional recommendation, it should still add dimension to your application. And since it’s supplemental, it doesn’t have to be academic. So ask your boss or Scout Master; consider your band director or coach; essentially, any adult mentor in your life would be a great addition to your file. Remember: an extra letter of recommendation is just that - icing on the cake! We do not require it and you won’t be at a disadvantage if you don’t submit an additional recommendation.

With regard to the second part of the questions above, we encourage you to consider asking a non-math/science teacher for the second letter of recommendation. The purpose of the Teacher Recommendations is to give us some perspective on what you’re like as a student. If have both of your letters come from teachers math and science, we often times get a rather one-dimensional view of you. So think about asking your English or history teacher (or some other humanities or social science instructor) - even if you didn’t make your best grades in those classes, those teachers often have great insight to share with us and can help flesh out your application by providing us with a different angle. But if you’d like both of your letters to come from math/science teachers, that is perfectly fine! We promise!

3. How strict are the 500 and 300 word limits on the essays?

We are not militant about the essay length, but we do expect students to abide to those guidelines as closely as possible. The word limits are guidelines; however, please don’t go too crazy over the limits. They exist so that we don’t get bogged down in really long essays and are actually read everything in everyone’s application files. If you go over by a few words, no worries - we can assure you that we do not sit around counting the number of words in each essay and then throw out the ones over 300/500 words!

4. Will you accept my scores from the December SAT and/or ACT?

Absolutely! As we’ve noted on the website, we are accepting scores from the December 1st SAT and the December 8th ACT test dates.

However, be sure that you submit your online application by the December 1st deadline (less than 3 weeks away)!

So those have been some of the hot topics of late. Hope you found these answers helpful. Good luck and we are getting really excited about reading all of your applications!!

~The Olin College Office of Admission