Question about college recommendation letters

[clh2]

I am writing a college recommendation letter for a person who was on a team that I coached last year.

I am not a teacher/educator...and I have not done one of these.

How long do they need to be? I'm thinking it should be no longer than 1 page. Does anyone know? Or has anyone done these before?

Thanks a b'jillion!!!
clh2

 

[KSchwagg86]

I would try to stick as close to 1 page as you can-I'm pretty sure admissions people won't read much more than that.

 

[DenMig]

I teach high school chemistry and I have written many recommendation letters over the years. My advice is a 3/4 to 1 page letter. Stress leadership skills if that applies to this person and if he/she was a good teammate.

I do often wonder if the universities really read these letters.

 

[clh2]

I've got my draft - and yes, it will need to be shortened up a bit.

I've definitely got the team-player aspect down, it was a huge part of the team I coached. I am wrestling with the leadership part. The team I coached was a Destination Imagination team, which is a creative problem solving group. I would definitely give him a leadership "nod", yet allowed the other groups of people to finish their tasks without taking over the parts of the project he wasn't responsible for.

I just adored working with this person, actually I loved the whole team...I just hope this letter doesn't sound TOO sweet.

 

[NC State]

I work in a college Admissions Office and do keep it 3/4 to one page. Be sure to include student's full name and date of birth. We don't require recommendation letters because we base it on the academic record. But you would be surprised how many we do get with the student's nickname and last nane and can't match it to any application or just the student's first name.