<p>So I'm kind of in a difficult position right now, because I don't really have too many teachers I can ask for a recommendation. I did awful my freshman year, finished with all B's, so any 9th grade teacher is out.
10th grade I had three teachers which loved me, and I will be asking one of them for a recommendation. The other two, however, retired and have left the school since last year.
I meant to ask them for a rec before they left, but it slipped my mind, and I never got around to it. I tried to contact them, but I found out that one moved to Florida and the other to Virginia, and there's just no way of getting in touch with them.
This year, I have had pretty mediocre teachers, and none of them really know me that well. I did well grade-wise, but I just can't imagine asking any of them for a serious recommendation.</p>
<p>One of our assistant principals however, knows me fairly well. I have talked to him about starting several projects in our school, and he recognizes that my ambitions are sincere.
He also knows how versatile and social I am - that I get straight A's, am in AP classes, am heavily involved in Speech and Debate, yet I'm good friends with everyone from the
top-class students, to the jocks, to the "potheads" who are in danger of not meeting graduation requirements. He has often told me that he knows very few people who can move around from clique to clique like I do.</p>
<p>I guess I still have till next year to worry about this, but I had a few questions.
Is it appropriate to send colleges a recommendation from an Assis. Principal in lieu of one of my teacher recs? Is it ok that I never actually had him in class?
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? </p>
<p>The forms pretty much ask for two teacher recommendation and a counselor’s recommendation; it sounds like the assistant principal is in more of a position to offer the sort of global school overview that a counselor would.</p>
<p>My son took a slightly unusual route and got one of his teacher’s recommendations from a college professor. It worked for him (Brown and 3 other top-20 colleges said yes). You might try taking a college class over the summer.</p>
<p>This still doesn’t solve your problem with the second teacher recommendation. There’s plenty of time left this year to build rapport with one or two of your current teachers that are giving you A’s.</p>
<p>Yea, that’s exactly what I was worried about - that it specifies “two teachers.”
I am currently pending acceptance for a summer program at BU, and I was hoping that if I attend, I could build a rapport with one of the professors there and seek a recommendation from them. </p>
<p>I have a question for you. Did your son include the college professor recommendation in addition to his two teacher and counselor recs? I have often heard that you should not send more than they ask for, so would it be necessary to get special permission first?</p>
<p>No, he substituted a college professor’s recommendation for one of the teacher’s recommendation. He could have gotten others, however, had any of the colleges requested one. He applied through Questbridge and they only had two slots electronically available for teacher recs.</p>
<p>Ok, thank you for the feedback, I will most likely be looking for an outside source for my second rec. I’m glad to hear your son went through Questbridge, a friend of mine was accepted to Vassar the same way this year. Great fin aid, and it put him in a good position with the adcom, it’s a great program!</p>
<p>At the end of the day, it’s about people who know your worth ethic and personality the best. I definitely think it’s acceptable and a good idea, unless the application specifically states “teacher recommendation,” and even in that case you can send the assit. principal’s as an extra.</p>
<p>One of my good highschool friends wrote me a letter of recommendation. It was praised by three regional admission officers and an independent scholarship committee for being pleasantly unconventional and incredibly insightful. Just goes to show you the value of getting a rec from someone who REALLY knows you.</p>
<p>@pch. Some schools require specific teacher rec (a science teacher, math teacher, 11th grade teacher etc) check out the requirements of each school to which you will be applying.</p>