<p>should you ask teachers who teach subjects that you are looking to major in (ie ap bio teacher for premed track) or is it fine to use an english or history teacher who knows you really well?</p>
<p>You can do a mix of teachers (often schools ask for 2). I would probably go for a teacher who knows you really well if you can only do one. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how important teacher recs are, but I wouldn’t stress about it too much :)</p>
<p>along the same lines, </p>
<p>is it true you have to have two letter of recs from teachers in opposing fields? (for example a mathematics teacher and a history teacher)</p>
<p>Honestly, I’ve never heard of the above happening-but maybe for a specific school that you (rosin33) are interested in this could be a case-check with your HS adviser.</p>
<p>many colleges will ask for a letter of rec from teachers in 2 areas such as math and history. You don’t need to try to find a teacher related to your major. For one thing few HS have the breadth of classes to teach all the subjects you can major in. For another, most students end up changing their major (often a couple of times!) What colleges really want is to get a sense of who you are as a student, and they often request teachers in different areas so they get a broader understanding.</p>
<p>BTW there is a bit of a danger here. You write "is it fine to use an english or history teacher who knows you really well? " That is not the entire set of criteria. You need a teacher who knows you well and is willing to write a strong letter on your behalf. You know the saying, “assumptions make an *ass of you and me”? Don’t assume a teacher who knows you well is going to write a positive letter.</p>
<p>While it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher, it HAS to be done. I know someone who was on the alumni scholarship committee for a well-known U and they regularly received letters of “rec” for the full-tuition scholarship that raked the kid over the coals. In “The Gatekeepers”,in which a NY Times reporter followed the admissions committee at Wesleyan for a year, is a real-world example of a bad rec. I’d bet it is from a teacher she thought knew her well. Here is what she got:
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.</p>