The letter recommending Christianne Beasley for admission to Smith College didn’t come from the most unbiased of sources. But there was no disputing the writer knew this applicant as well as anyone.

“Christianne and Smith seem to be a perfect match,” wrote Nancy Beasley of Westbrook, Maine, four years ago, on behalf of her only daughter, now a Smith senior. She described Christianne’s “grace and dignity,” and explained why she thought the prestigious and diverse Northampton, Mass., women’s college was the perfect fit for the girl she’d raised.

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Debra Shaver, dean of admission, sits by stacks of applications to Smith College in Northhampton, Mass. The Associated Press

Smith is among just a few colleges — among them nearby Mt. Holyoke and Holy Cross in Massachusetts, St. Anselm in New Hampshire and the University of Richmond — that invite parents to submit letters on behalf of their children, either as part of the application itself, or in a follow-up invitation after the application is received.

At Smith, finalizing this month the 640 or so members of the Class of 2016 from more than 4,300 applications, a little less than half include a parental letter. The college takes pains to emphasize such letters are optional and won’t make or break a decision.

But there’s a reason Smith has stuck with the process for about 20 years now, despite the extra work, says Smith’s director of admission, Debra Shaver. Sometimes parents offer just the kind of color that can bring to life a candidate whose full personality is hidden in a portrait painted only with grades, test scores and traditional recommendation letters from teachers and guidance counselors.

“You might think they do nothing but brag,” she said. “But parents really nail their kids. They really get to the essence of what their daughter is about in a way we can’t get anywhere else.”

“We get to this point and say, ‘You can’t be driving the bus, you need to be in the back seat,’ ” Shaver said. “It’s all true, and yet I think parents can provide texture to those applications that can’t be found anywhere else.”

For Christianne Beasley, a letter from Mom was the perfect closing argument to her case that Smith was the place for her.

“Sometimes there’s that bad connotation of the overbearing parents who feel the need to control their kids’ decision,” she said. “In my case, it was the opposite. It was to make sure I had the best application possible and Smith saw the best part of me.”

For her mom, it was a chance to participate, but also share something she knew nobody else would have seen: the way her daughter lit up when she first visited Smith’s campus.

“You know how they say when you see your wedding dress or your house, you just knew it’s the one? She just knew it was the one,” Nancy Beasley said. “Nobody else would have known.”

Parents also seem to feel grateful for the opportunity. Often they feel shut out of the admissions process, either through lack of familiarity or warnings to give their kids space. Yet many crave acknowledgment that they had something to do with making those kids who they are.

“When she basically said, ‘I’m going to be doing this college stuff and if I need your help I’ll ask you,’ I figured she’d be doing it on her own,” Nancy Beasley said. “But I did like the fact that we at least had the opportunity with one of the colleges, Smith, to actually say something to them.”

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