Can I ask my business teacher for a letter of rec?

Applying to College
1

I’m applying for sociology, and some of the ivies require 2 LORs. Along with my science teacher, would my business teacher fulfill the ‘humanities teacher’ requirement?

2

Usually colleges prefer LORs for core subject teachers.

3

@trig592700 This is a great question – To give you a general idea, we covered a slightly similar topic in a College Confidential article, which you can find here:https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/teachers-wont-write-rec-letters

4

Under most circumstances, I would not ask your business teacher for a rec, especially as you are applying to highly selective schools Do you have another option from a teacher of a core class? Have you discussed this with your HS GC?

5

This might be a good question to ask your regional admissions officer to show some demonstrated interest, and because different schools might have different rules. And yes, usually recs from core classes are better, but if your business teacher will give you a glowing rec, ask anyways. If the schools says no to business as your humanities rec, add your business teacher on as an extra rec.

6

I took business, English, history, calc, physics, and pe this year.

My History teacher was on paternity leave for a large majority of the year and multiple short-term substitutes took his place. (He might not even know my name)

My English teacher would end up writing a mediocre letter of recommendation; basically generic.

I was easily one of the most memorable students my business teacher has had in a while, and she knows me through my officer role in a business club on campus, too.

@Mwfan1921 My school’s student to counselor ratio is 700 to 1, so GC has been backlogged on emails because of virtual schooling. I emailed her for a different matter a few weeks ago and have not gotten a reply yet. Now, all teachers and GC’s are technically on summer break, so we cannot contact them.

@ms50263 This is a great idea; I will definitely contact the school reps. I guess my main goal is to see if they will allow the business teacher to be the 2nd (and not 3rd) recommender, because I don’t want to unnecessarily have a mediocre rec weighing down the stronger parts of my application.