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Should a coach write your college recommendation?
Why a coach can describe qualities teachers do not see but rarely replaces an academic letter, and where coaches, employers and mentors belong in your file.
SourceBased on what we at Aristo learned from the Stanford admissions office.
Readers in Stanford's admissions office read every letter of recommendation for one kind of evidence, and the adults who know a student best are often unable to supply it. When families list who knows their student well, the names are often a coach, a youth-group leader, a volunteer coordinator or a family friend. These adults have seen the student at early practices and long weekends, and they would write with real affection.
The trouble is that a heartfelt letter can still be the wrong letter, and in a committee comparing strong files, the wrong letter is not neutral. Families rarely see that cost, because nobody tells them which letters quietly counted against a student. It begins with what the reader is actually looking for.
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