The applicant must provide two academic letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors or professors. It is mandatory that at least one of these recommendations be from a college professor. However, in certain situations, such as enrollment in large lecture courses, a teaching assistant may be accepted as a recommender. For individuals who have been out of college for an extended period but have been actively involved in the workforce, one work reference can substitute for one faculty recommendation. Likewise, veteran applicants have the option to submit a commanding officer’s reference in lieu of one faculty recommendation.
There is also the possibility of including an optional letter of recommendation, provided it offers new insights into the applicant and is limited to one submission. The recommender is instructed to include the applicant’s full legal name, school name, and date of birth at the top of the letter. No specific form is required for this optional letter. It’s important to note that the university cannot confirm the receipt of optional materials that are not mandatory for the admission process, and these materials are not actively tracked in their system.
Once the information has been sent recommenders are advised to include the applicant’s full legal name, school name, and date of birth at the beginning of the letter. It’s mentioned that materials submitted by others may take several days to process. If the applicant’s checklist is not complete by the deadline, they are encouraged to regularly check their Stanford portal until all items have been processed.