Choosing teacher LoR

Applying to College
1

Hello everyone! First time posting here, so I do hope I format this correctly.

I’m a rising senior (Grad. 2024), and I’m at the stage in my Junior year where I’m about to request LoR from my teachers. My school has a policy that teachers will only write LoR in the fall, but asking now would put me at the top of their list of students to write LoRs for.

I’m having a bit of trouble deciding who I should ask for my LoR. I transferred into a public charter K-12 in 7th grade, and combined with my small class count (~150), most teachers know me really well. Currently, I have 5 teachers I cannot decide between to ask for the 2 slots on Common App.

For reference, I’m intending to major in International Relations/Political Science while doing Pre-med.

  1. Orchestra director - I’ve worked with her for 4 years, ever since I transferred in, and she knows me to be a really dedicated and reliable person.
  2. English Teacher - My English teacher, from senior testimonies, writes really good LoRs, and is the most requested teacher for LoRs at my school. He knows that I’m very good at literature in general, and we also spend time talking about hobbies (He was a former National Park Ranger, and I’m involved locally with EMS: we often talk about Search & Rescue, among other topics)
  3. Chemistry teacher - I initially met them in 8th grade, and took their class last year as part of state requirements. I’ve also taken them this year and will be next year. They’ve probably seen that despite me not being the best at chemistry, I’m always looking for ways to improve.
  4. TOK (IB Theory of Knowledge) - TOK is a class I’m really active in, being that we debate moral topics like religion and politics in it. He and I usually debate over issues like gun control and more. Out of all the teachers, this would probably be the best focus for my intended major.
  5. History Teacher - The teacher in this class thinks really highly of me - we share hobbies like Warhammer 40k, DnD, and a passion for history. I won the subject award in this class, so that makes it also promising.

I hope this post doesn’t come off as narcissistic, or anything like that, but I know my teachers really well. Apologies for the word wall, but I’m in a dilemma in choosing who to ask. Some people say to ask those who would do well for your major, others say to get ones who boost your character.

Thank you all so much! I’m open to elaborating further if any of you have questions.

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It may help to list some of the schools that you are planning to apply to?

Ideally, you would want your main two “Teacher” LORs in the Common App to be a humanities / social sciences teacher and a STEM teacher. So you could choose your Chemistry teacher (if you think they could write a good LOR), and one of the other teachers that you think would write a good LOR.

The orchestra director could be a great LOR as well, but you would classify that as an “Other Recommender” in the Common App. That’s how we used my son’s orchestra director LOR last year. Most colleges that accept LORs will accept an “Other Recommender” LOR.

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I agree with tamagotchi. You should have one LOR from STEM teacher (Chemistry), and one from other teacher (History or English).

If the History teacher knows you the most, then he would be a better LOR candidate.

4

Choose two between 2,3,5.

Not 1,4. #1 could be a third if they allow - like a coach or employer.

5

If they are all good recommendation writers, then the combination that covers the most colleges’ preferences is #3 plus either #2 or #5.

Some colleges prefer one science/math and one humanities/social science. #3 is your only science/math. Of the others, #2 and #5 are the most mainstream high school subjects in humanities/social science. (#1 arts is also, but some colleges consider it lesser than English or history; #4 ToK is also, but is IB specific).

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