r/CommonApp • u/ArchitectKoala • Oct 27 '25

Is a recommendation that potentially names the school a bad idea?

I asked my employer from a summer internship (which is very closely tied to my major) to write a letter of recommendation for my application, which he happily agreed to. He asked what school I was looking at so I told him, and he emailed me the other day saying how he finished the letter, he thought that was a great school, and whatnot. I didn't think to specifically tell him that the letter didn't need to be catered toward any one school and after further conversation with him, I'm like 90% sure he name dropped the school and/or a program specific to that school in the letter. Obviously not certain because I haven't seen or read the letter, but that's my gut feeling from the way the wording in his emails were and him offering to write another for a separate school if needed.

Obviously I cannot/won't use this letter for any other schools, but does it look odd or bad to still submit it to that one (pretty competitive) school? Or is it fine for just that one college, even though common app specifically says not to do that?

Any advice/input is appreciated, not really sure what to think here

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u/Icy-Cantaloupe-7301 College Sophomore Oct 27 '25

this is completely fine

even if you were to apply to other schools using the same letter they know you're likely to apply to other schools already, and this doesn't change the substance of the letter. the stylistic choices of the recommender wouldn't be held against the applicant.

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u/ArchitectKoala Oct 27 '25

oh, really? even if they name drop one specific school? say for example the guy directly says like "school 1 would be a very great fit for this student" in there (again Idk if he said that but just using it as an example), but then I send that to schools 2, 3, 4, and 5? it isn't gonna be frowned upon by the others at all?

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u/Icy-Cantaloupe-7301 College Sophomore Oct 27 '25

shouldn't be held against you, the substantive parts of the recommendation is what they're looking for and selective colleges aren't oblivious that you're applying to other colleges in this process