<p>Hi, can somebody explain to me the basic process of teacher recommendations?</p>
<p>How many do you need and does one teacher have to write one for all the schools you're applying to? If so, can it be the same thing? After that, do they give it to you for you to mail out?</p>
<p>Can you have multiple teachers write them and pick the best?</p>
<p>Basically, I have no idea how to do any of this, so thanks if somebody could just explain the basic procedure!</p>
<p>The number you need depends on the college, but many need 2 so you should find 2 teachers that you think can write you a good recomendation (try to get them from different subject areas, like a math/science and a humanities teacher)</p>
<p>you should ask them the spring of your junior year (i am assuming you are a junior) and then follow up at the very beggining of senior year. </p>
<p>Many colleges use the commonapp, so for those that do, once you make an account (which i think you can do starting in july) and enter your basic info you get the reccomendation forms from commonapp. Print one out, fill it out, sign it, and give it to your teacher along with envelopes from all of your commonapp schools (addressed and stamped). The noncommon app schools will have their own rec forms, give the teachers these along with envelopes.</p>
<p>Follow up with the teachers a few weeks before the due date of the rec to make sure they did it.</p>
<p>Some teachers will let you read it but not others. And it would be kind of rude to ask and then not use it. so when you ask for the rec ask for a good one and hope they will give it to you</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>A few things I'd like to add to that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Many students ask teachers for recommendations in senior year. This is perfectly fine, as long as you ask early, so that teachers aren't swamped with all the recommendations (trust me, eventually they will be). But if you are very sure that you will ask one of the teachers you had for junior year for a recommendation letter, ask sometime around the end of the school year, so that they will definitely be done with it. </p></li>
<li><p>Fill out the Common Application form (which is online around August or so) and ask your teacher for the recommendation. What they do is they type up a letter and they print one copy for each of the schools to which you're applying. </p></li>
<li><p>You should try to set an appointment with your teacher and tell them why you are applying to those specific schools and remind them of the important features that you want to get across through the recommendations.</p></li>
<li><p>The teachers usually mail out the letters for you, but sometimes they give them to you to mail. It doesn't matter.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't ask like 5 different teachers to write recommendations and throw some away. You're not supposed to see their recommendations.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for the help! Can someone explain to me what exactly is a "Common Application"? Where do you get those and are there other, different types specific for each school?</p>
<p>The Common Application is a standard-template application. A lot of schools accept the Common App so that an applicant applying to multiple schools doesn't have to fill out a separate application for each school. Some schools also require a "supplement" with a few extra questions or essays, while some schools don't accept it at all and insist that you fill out their own application. There's a list of schools that use the Common App at <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">www.commonapp.org</a>, where you can see it/download it/fill it out online.</p>
<p>So, for example, you may apply to three universities. University X takes the Common App, all by itself. University Y takes the Common App but requires a supplement that's specific to that university. University Z has its own application that can't be used anywhere else.</p>