Should Parental Letters of Recommendation be Included in the College Application Process?

Name: Claire H

Topic:Education

Title: College Admissions: Parent Recommendations Welcomed by Some Institutions.

Author: Justin Pope

Publication: Huffington Post

Date: 3/3/12

Letters of recommendation commonly come from unbiased sources. A parent is the most biased source you can get. Some small liberal arts colleges which pride themselves on knowing their students very well allow parents to write recommendation letters so they can get a true picture of the student. Smith college is a prestigious and diverse Northampton, Mass., women's college which allows parental recommendation letters. "We get to this point and say, `You can't be driving the bus, you need to be in the backseat,'" Shaver said. This quote means that the admissions officers know that they cannot get a completely accurate picture of every applicant, but a parental letter is one of the best ways to get a little more insight into the applicant. Perhaps the biggest worry, which Hawkins shares, is "advantaging the advantaged," particularly those from non-English speaking families. These applicants do not have parents who can drop everything to write a letter, or may not even be able to write the letters in English. This discourages the possible applicants from even applying. This process may be entirely biased and allow parents to brag all they want, but it also shows a more in depth look of an applicant who can get lost in a sea of SAT scores, GPA's and other standardized numbers.

This article showed that while some parents look at this as an opportunity to "burst with predictably over-the-top pride in their children's virtues" but it also is a way to be there on a very special day in their child's life. Who knows you better than your parent? no one. This is why a parent is the perfect person to write the perfect recommendation letter.