Current harvard students/ Recommendations?

<p>Hello guys! :)
I'm currently a junior in HS and I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Harvard. I really want a good recommendations this year, but I have no idea what "stellar" rec is like. </p>

<p>My main passion lies in the medicine/healthcare field, so I thought it'd be best to get at least one recommendation from my Physics (main science I'm taking this year & the guy is really nice) teacher and I guess I'll just get a decent one from my Math teacher. </p>

<p>I currently have a solid A in both classes, but I know I can raise it to an A+.</p>

<p>I really enjoy studying these subjects and learning and helping others with these subjects. It's my physics teacher's first year teaching, so I really want an amazing rec from him (hopefully he'll write me one of those best-of-career ones). </p>

<p>My main concern is how can I stand out to this teacher? No one does AP Physics at my school or SAT Physics, so I'm currently meeting with him during office hours and expressing my concerns regarding these exams. </p>

<p>I'm probably just rambling right now, but all in all, my questions for you Harvard students are what your were recs like? What kind of things did they say? What part of the recs do you think really stood out to the adcoms? What kind of things did they say regarding work ethic/passion/personal qualities (if you can include quotes, that'd be great!)? </p>

<p>Please feel free to mention anything regarding recs!</p>

<p>Please please please help a desperate junior out!</p>

<p>bump
10char</p>

<p>15 views, not one post
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<p>Not to be mean but not everyone here (in fact about 95% if not more) of us have not gone to harvard or going their currently</p>

<p>Ah, true. I apologize for my ignorance.</p>

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<p>The only thing that you should be concerned about in picking teachers for recommendations is how well they know you. An A- teacher may be able to speak more to your potential contribution to a college environment than an A+ teacher. Also, Harvard doesn’t care at all about what you think you’ll major in. If you are looking for math/science recs because you tend to shine more in those classes, then that’s a good idea. But if it’s because you want to associate them with your prospective concentration; Harvard won’t care. The syllabus isn’t recommending you; the teacher is.</p>

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<p>Your physics teacher is unlikely to call you the best student of his career if it is his first year teaching. Even if he does, it won’t mean much. It’s not that particular statement itself that counts but the context of it. </p>

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<p>What they say shouldn’t matter to you. You shouldn’t be telling your teachers what to say. In fact this is a part of your application that you don’t have direct control over. Just do your best to show interest, be engaged, and perhaps get to know the teacher a little bit as a person. Don’t be creepy, but be friendly, mature, and a pleasure to have in class. Combine that with good grades and demonstrated interest and that’s really the best you can do.</p>

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<p>Someone said 90% in the field are there for the money (no idea if that’s true). Are you among the 10% or 90%? A teacher that can back your passion (10%) would be the best for a rec.</p>

<p>I have no idea what my recs said because I’ve never read them. And what’s said in a recommendation about one person shouldn’t be the same as what’s said for another because they’re different persons.</p>

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<p>A stellar recommendation provide information about the applicant that cannot be gleaned from other parts of the application and helps to more fully portray who you are as a person. Also, just as side note, there are tons of great schools out there besides Harvard and the ones that are commonly known. You may want to do a comprehensive research of different schools (LACs/universities, different locations and environments, etc) and have a range of schools that you find appealing, instead of setting your sight on just one.</p>

<p>As for the recommendation, see if this helps: [MIT</a> Admissions | Info For Schools & Counselors: Writing Evaluations](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml)</p>

<p>“What they say shouldn’t matter to you. You shouldn’t be telling your teachers what to say. In fact this is a part of your application that you don’t have direct control over. Just do your best to show interest, be engaged, and perhaps get to know the teacher a little bit as a person. Don’t be creepy, but be friendly, mature, and a pleasure to have in class. Combine that with good grades and demonstrated interest and that’s really the best you can do.”</p>

<p>-Lol obviously I know that! I was just curious about what YOUR recs said, so I can try to show those qualities in class and I’d hope he’d take notice.
Ohh, and guys, any ideas how I can on how I can approach my teacher to, you know, get to know them better? MY teacher kind of seems introverted and not really interested in making personal relationships with students.</p>

<p>& carlico, OF COURSE, I’m applying to other schools!
Want to see my current list?
MIT, Caltech, UChicago, BC, BU, Uni of Notre dame, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Upenn, Duke, Dartmouth, Northwestern, JHU, Brown, Cornell, Georgetown, UC Berkely, UCLA, UC Davis, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, NYU, Suny Stony Brook, Sophie Davis, George Washington, URochester, Rutgers, Northeastern…</p>

<p>And no, I don’t plan on cutting that list down :slight_smile:
Call my crazy, but I don’t know what I’d do with my life if I didn’t get into college.
I think that’s it.</p>

<p>“Call me crazy”</p>

<p>ok i will. you are crazy.</p>

<p>Thanks for restating the obvious. :)</p>

<p>I hope you have fee waivers and, if not, I hope you’re paying the fees. I’m fairly certain you’ll pay more to apply to college than I pay to attend college.</p>

<p>I wasn’t too familiar with fee wavers at first. I worked summer of frosh and soph yrs and I currently work 26 hrs weekly this jr year and will continue to do so throughout sr year. I saved enough money already.</p>

<p>bump
10char</p>

<p>the more you spread yourself out to schools the more spread out your application will be. you sure you can handle that many apps?</p>

<p>then again, i’m applying to 17 schools… :0</p>

<p>[MIT</a> Admissions | Info For Schools & Counselors: Writing Evaluations](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml]MIT”>http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml)</p>

<p>Despite not being from or for Harvard, this should be of assistance to your teachers and for yourself, when trying to determine what your recs should say.</p>