<p>1) Since I'd prefer the teachers to talk more specifically about their personal impressions of me, would giving them my resume be unnecessary? I will definitely provide them with a few term papers, etc that I am proud of.
2) How should I approach the teachers and ask them to relate some anecdotes/small details if possible? Should I just directly say "I'd like you to ..."?
3)Is it necessary to tell them why I want to apply to certain schools (mostly ivy level)? I think my reasons are pretty straightforward (great facilities, great connections, great academic environment, etc). Besides, I think it would be pretty fake if I told my teachers that I love Harvard mainly because of its hot guys.</p>
<p>1.) No, a resume isn’t unnecessary, however don’t expect them to draw from it, especially if you indicate that you want personal impressions to be the big thing on the letter.
2.) Yes, include anecdotes! Many teachers request these anyway. If you are handing a resume/questionnaire and stuff, just include a page with some anecdotes as well.
3.) If you have a good reason you want included in the letter subtly, then maybe. Not necessary though.</p>
<p>Some teachers even ask for a resume/CV or a small list of achievements. You want the recs to be personal so be sure to specifically state that you want them to describe YOU instead of your achievements. This is a key distinction that separates good letters from great ones. Lastly, if you have a specific reason why you like a school, then be sure to let the teacher know so they can mention it.</p>
<p>The type of anecdotes that admissions is looking for in your Letters of Rec are ones that show that the teacher genuinely likes you for who you are, and shows their perspective on what your presence in their lives means to them. A Letter of Rec isn’t a list of your achievements written by someone else, it’s looking for an outside perspective to show the person other people think you are, since the rest of the application is about who you think you are.</p>
<p>As for a resume, many teachers request it, but you should ask them not to draw from it unless they’ve actually been an influence in that part of your life. If you’ve volunteered at the soup kitchen every day for the last twelve years, it’s quite an accomplishment, but it still doesn’t belong in the letter unless the teacher has seen you there, or been affected by or helped you in it in some way.</p>
<p>You can’t ask someone for a LOR and then tell them what to write.</p>
<p>You ask someone who you have reason to believe will write you a favorable letter. That means choosing teachers with whom you’ve established a good relationship and generally teachers whose class you’ve done well in. </p>
<p>The resume is helpful because if a teacher wants to say, “Not only did happysunshine put forth great effort and achieve great things in my class, but she did it while captaining three varsity teams, holding down two jobs and mentoring orphans in her spare time,” the teacher will know which sports teams, and/or exactly what your ECs and community service were.</p>
<p>But you can’t tell them what to write or what anecdotes to chose. If that were the case, you could write your own LORs. If there’s a story that’s really important to you, find a way to include it on the app - in one of the short essay or short answer sections that is relevant, for example, or in your main essay.</p>
<p>Teachers are often busy and overwhelmed. They can’t remember every thoughtful comment or contribution a student made, so it’s helpful to remind your teacher of those moments (or of term papers, that kind of thing). One of my teachers specifically asks her students to list these anecdotes. It doesn’t mean she’ll mention every one you list or allow you to invent your own–it just jogs her memory.</p>
<p>Be wary of teachers who you think will just regurgiate your resume. The teachers writing my recs are intimately aware of my involvement with some ECs but have absolutely no knowledge of others. Colleges have lists of your ECs; they don’t need them re-listed by teachers who have no idea why they were significant to you.</p>
<p>I was wondering, if none of the teachers who knows about your ecs are your academic teachers…how big of a disadvantage is that? Is it enough for them to just comment on your academic habits and stuff??</p>
<p>"was wondering, if none of the teachers who knows about your ecs are your academic teachers…how big of a disadvantage is that? Is it enough for them to just comment on your academic habits and stuff?? "</p>
<p>The main reason that colleges want reccs from teachers is to find out about your intelligence, academic habits, and character. It’s a nice bonus if a teacher also has advised an EC, but that’s not necessary or expected.</p>
<p>It’s possible that your school might have an official form that they want filled out, because I know my school does and a teacher can refuse to write a letter of recommendation if you don’t provide one… </p>
<p>I think the form includes:
-Schools you’re applying to
-List of classes taken with the teacher
-Three adjectives you would use to describe yourself
-A memorable event in one of the classes with that teacher
etc.</p>
<p>What rchhay’s school requires probably means that their students get better recommendation letters than students normally get. Typically, students expect teachers to remember all kinds of details about the student’s work. Students don’t realize that teachers teach a lot of students and aren’t likely to remember lots of specific details about any student, no matter how outstanding the student is.</p>
<p>Definitely give your recommenders a copy of your resume. Also, take a few minutes to speak to each teacher to about any part of your resume that you think will provide the teachers with a more expansive view of who you are.</p>
<p>my sons gave out little charts with 2 sentence reasons they applied to each college…as some references would personalize the final paragraph in a reference if they were told why College X or Y…especially if the teacher had some particular reason to promote a student for College X…</p>
<p>I think it is a lot to expect…but it is also no fun to wonder why Joe is applying to both his state flagship college and a Liberal arts college if Joe has not bothered to discuss these choices even lightly with a reference. </p>
<p>Re handing our your resume…be careful. You don’t want the same info from your resume to reappear in your reference letters from all the teachers. …So my sons handed out abbreviated resume “Lights” and instead wrote the brief statement of fit for each college…they also let the teacher know if College X was a reach or not. They didn’t want
the teachers to think they were nuts and that they felt entitled to be admitted to all those schools…and they wanted their references to know that they truly respected their match colleges.</p>
<p>I think it is okay to remind a teacher of events or achievements.</p>
<p>Sorry to add onto the questions, but are 3 letters of recos overkill ? and through the common app, can i send a LoR to one coll and a diff LoR to another ?</p>
<p>some schools are very very direct regarding wanting only one so make sure to look hard at the admissions requirements. most schools in my experience will accept two including the Guidance counselor’s and are not averse to a well placed third reference from a coach or someone who has worked with a student in research or extra curriculars in volunteer or work or employment capacities outside of the classroom. Keep each reference focused and not repetitive. my two cents</p>
<p>in our backwoods city, we found teachers also had no sense of level of difficulty re admissions so that was also provided in a few brief stats…so they realized that the chances were good or distant at each college for which they were writing a letter…ie…they thought Duke was a state college (what? you are paying out of state rates…why?)…and that it was idiotic to look at schools in the north…
in short, don’t make them guess why you like a school…explain briefly…most teachers enjoy learning about colleges although you have to be very succinct…and they like knowing you also make sense in your applications…for your next phase of life…they do want to help if you are informative</p>