Choosing teachers for letters of recommendation

Hi everyone, I’m a rising senior in high school. I’m trying to decide which humanities teacher to ask for a letter of recommendation, but I’m not sure who to choose.

I go to a pretty competitive public high school and I’m planning to major in math. I’ve asked my AP Calculus BC teacher for a STEM rec letter, since I had her as a sophomore and then TA’d for her junior year and we’ve had many conversations about math and my passion for it.

I need to ask a humanities teacher as well for many colleges, but this is where I’m stuck. My options are:

AP US History teacher (11th grade)

  • We are kind of close? We’ve had some conversations about math and my interest for it
  • I’ve generally been one of her best students, academically speaking
  • However, she’s moving schools this year and so she told everyone that her letters of rec would be somewhat generic and pretty much based of a questionnaire that she emailed us

Literature/Writing teacher (9th grade)

  • She hasn’t had me as a student for 2 years, but she can definitely comment on my writing skills since she’s edited my essays for other classes and summer programs
  • She knows me extremely well and I’m her “unofficial TA”
  • I’ve told her about pretty much all of my extracurriculars and she can attest to my personality/character better than anyone
  • She said that she’d love to write me a letter of rec, but it would be more of a character letter and wouldn’t talk too much about me as a student or academically

Who should I ask for my humanities letter of rec?

My kids’ school limits recs to teachers from 11th grade. I would find out before asking a 9th grade teacher, though she sounds like a good reference otherwise. Also, you might ask if the history teacher can give you a strong recommendation. If she can’t, then ask someone else.

Some schools don’t take any recs; many take only one. You can choose which to submit. Is there no other English teacher from 11th?

I wouldn’t ask a teacher from 9th grade since it has been 2 years - plus, schools typically like to hear from teachers you had junior year. Is there another humanities teacher you had this year that you could ask if you think your APUSH teacher will be too generic? What about your English teacher from this year?

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My son did not have a humanities LOR. His two academic LORs were from his Chem and Physics teachers. He did well in admissions (for engineering), however he wasn’t applying to T10 schools, and none of his schools specified that the LORs should include both humanities and STEM teachers. Where are you thinking about applying?

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This is not necessarily a drawback. Your grades and test scores are evidence for your academic achievements. The fact that she is willing to write your LOR after two years shows how strongly she values you.

Presumably, you want to apply to a college that wants at least one humanities LoR? (e.g. MIT)

Also, check if any colleges on your list prefer more recent teachers (e.g. 11th grade over 9th grade).

Yes, some of the schools I’m applying to want both a humanities letter and a STEM letter. I emailed them and they said that they preferred more recent teachers but ultimately wanted a good judge of personality and character.
I have not spoken much at all with my English teacher for junior year, and his letter would probably be the worst option. I wasn’t very active in his class though, so I don’t think it would be very strong compared to my APUSH teacher or my 9th grade lit teacher.

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