<p>I want to reinforce what ParAlum has written. As someone who writes and reads numerous recommendation letters, I want to underscore the point that the boxes we have to check on some forms can get well nigh meaningless. Top 1%? Top 5%? Best in years? exceptional? excellent? How does one make such judgments? The best student I have one year may or may not be among the top 5% of all students I’ve ever taught. </p>
<p>But the letters are so much more important. When I read a recommendation of a few sentences, “A great student, will do well, deserves honor and recognition” I am not helped. But when the recommender is specific, can give concrete examples about work done, contributions made, etc., the letter goes a lot farther. It’s more important what the recommender said about the student than the numbers checked.</p>
<p>I wonder how many teachers are ever taught or coached how to write recommendation letters? I’ve read enough written by my peers to know that they won’t help students get into grad programs or get jobs afterwards. </p>
<p>And what do your teachers ask you to give them? My D, a HS senior, has a teacher who asked for an unofficial transcript, a letter from the student about the class(es) they’d had with him, and what the HS calls a “brag sheet” in order to write a recommendation for her. That sounds like a lot of work for the student; but it gives me confidence that this teacher will write my D a recommendation that reflects who she is and what she is capable of.</p>