<p>The title is my exact question. Do colleges look at the credentials of teachers who write recommendation letters? I already asked one teacher to write me a recommendation, but I am stuck when it comes who to ask for the second one. Should I ask my History teacher, who went to a small, liberal arts college in West Virginia? Or should I ask my Latin teacher, who has his ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin? Both know me equally well, so thats not an issue. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>the anecdotes matter more than the writers’ degree or pedigree. Both are “meh” to the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Thank you for clearing that up.</p>
<p>I’d appreciate some other opinions!</p>
<p>When it comes to the teacher recommendations, I think it matters 0% were they went to college. How would the admissions committee even know? I don’t think any of my teachers wrote “I went to Harvard” or “I went to local flagship A”…</p>
<p>But when you are talking about supplemental letters of recommendation, that might matter more. If you did research at a hospital, an MD might be better than your supervisor at work… but even then, I doubt it is substantial.</p>
<p>Oh, I didn’t know… I thought maybe their alma maters were listed under their names or something. Thank you for clearing that up!!</p>
<p>Think about the purpose of the rec letter. It’s to get subjective info about you – not a litany of your connections. Your goal is to get someone to write this for you:</p>
<p>[Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Even a first year teacher can generate this. You’re what matters, not the rec writer.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for that link! I appreciate your feedback.</p>
<p>How about the position of the writer in the institution? Will a rec letter from the English department head count better than one from a new teacher if both have similar contents?</p>
<p>Melody, that just wouldn’t be reasonable, would it? Students don’t get to choose whether their English teacher is the head of the department, who’s been teaching for more than twenty years, or a 25-year-old with a brand new M.Ed.</p>
<p>The broad answer to your question is, no, it doesn’t matter. But there is a possible exception. If that theoretical head of the English department were to say, “Melody stands out as one of the best writers and most mature thinkers I have encountered in my twenty-six years of teaching,” that would carry a lot of weight. And obviously, a 25-year-old with a brand new M.Ed. can’t say such a thing.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s true. I was just curious. :P</p>