Difficult Recommendation Letter Situation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>So I'm kind of in a tough situation with recommendation letters. </p>

<p>I have a plan for my application for Universality of Chicago. I really want to let them know how much of a hard worker, a creative thinker, and an eager learner I am. For the most part, my essays, classes, and extracurriculars all represent those traits very well and everything flows together smoothly. But when it comes to academics recommendation letters, I'm faced with a difficult situation. </p>

<p>The big issue is that they ask for an "academic" recommendation. Originally I chose my 11th grade English teacher who knows me really well as a hard worker, academic and extracurricular wise, and my Biology teacher because he knows me well and I want to major in Biology. I do very well in both of those classes but I realized that I wanted to ask a teacher whose class I've been struggling in because those are the teachers that really see you grow. </p>

<p>I told my Biology teacher that I wanted to change recommenders and he was fine with it. But I ended up asking my art teacher, which I don't know was a good decision. I'm in IB Art HL, a considerably challenging class where art projects are constantly due and we actually have to analyze a lot of art. I can honestly say that it's the most academic fine arts subject we have at our school besides Art History. I do well in the class but I struggle very hard to meet deadlines and succeed teacher's harsh critique. I have broken down in tears in the past but managed to pull it through when a project was due and she knows all this about me. We have a really good relationship but I'm still unsure whether the is a good idea to ask an art student. </p>

<p>I think I really just want to know if it's okay to ask an art teacher for a letter of recommendation when taking consideration of my situation. Please let me know what you guys think. Any advice will be appreciated :).</p>

2

<p>Well… I think you should’ve posted this before you asked the art teacher, because there’s not much you can do now. If you nix your art teacher and ask your biology teacher, you could come off as fickle and that’s never a good impression to have. And just out of curiosity, are you in the IB Diploma Programme? Because if you want to major in biology, you probably should’ve taken IB Chemistry for group 6 instead of IB Art because a lot of biology involves chemical reactions. (I guess it’s too late to switch).
Just follow through with what you originally planned when asking your art teacher. You don’t even have to declare your major until second or third year, and you could just take more biology courses if you get in. But… may I ask, WHY you wouldn’t want your biology teacher to write a recommendation when you plan on majoring in it? Furthermore, your “break downs” and struggles in regards to meeting deadlines and seeming difficulty in taking harsh critique may not be ideal for being the type of person that would succeed in an environment where one needs to meet even stricter due dates.
I know the IB program is tough because I’m going through it right now, but you just have to deal with it without stressing too much. Good luck with your recommendations!</p>

3

<p>You can submit three letters of recommendation where the third has some perspective that the others lack, and that’s maybe what you should think about here.</p>

<p>It’s creative, and it’s risky, too, to get a recommendation from a teacher in a class where you have struggled. Very few applicants do that, so it could make you stand out a little. But its success would really depend on the art teacher loving you and writing a great recommendation. And (a) teachers don’t always really love students who are struggling in their classes, plus (b) surprisingly few teachers are actually good at writing recommendations, especially when they have to communicate something with nuances. </p>

<p>If you are going to take a risk like this, doing it with a non-academic class is a great idea, but only if you have other recommendations to shore up your academic credentials very solidly. I love the story (if the recommendations succeed in telling it): “Here’s a great biology student who is also a great English student, and when he has to stretch a bit in fine arts he doesn’t succeed easily but he approaches it with enthusiasm, intellectual engagement, and hard work, and he gets a lot out of it.” But I don’t love this story: “He says he cares most about biology, but all we have is a recommendation from an English teacher who says he works hard and does a good job and an art teacher who says he doesn’t have any talent but is a nice guy and tries hard.” And you have NO WAY to be certain you aren’t telling that second story without meaning to.</p>

<p>If you still can, I would try to get the biology teacher’s recommendation, and make the art teacher’s recommendation supplemental. But before you use it at all, talk to the teacher to make certain the story she is telling is the story you want heard.</p>

<p>One final note: Being hard-working is a good trait, and teachers often emphasize how hard-working the students they like are. But if you read a bunch of stuff about elite college admissions, you know that “hard-working” is NOT a positive recommendation, at least not unless it’s part of a string of other qualities that have more to do with intelligence. Recommendations that praise a student’s hard work over other qualities are thought to be a kiss of death. There are lots and lots of students who do well in high school without actually being smart or having any intellectual curiosity, because they work hard (and get lots of extra credit for working hard). In college, that’s not so special, because everyone works hard, or they flunk out. At elite colleges, the fear (and the experience) is that students who did well in high school by outworking everyone else will not be able to elevate their game to learn faster, and with more critical thinking, at the college level, while students who did well without working particularly hard in high school can double or triple their productivity simply by working harder in college. And it’s not that tough to work a little harder if you aren’t working that much now, but it’s very tough to make yourself smarter, or to work harder if you are already maxed out.</p>

<p>So you want to make certain, if you can, that your teachers are not featuring your hard work rather than your intellectual qualities.</p>

4

<p>When I say I struggle in my art class, I did not mean I get bad grades. I have great relationships with all these teachers and they know me on a personal level. I have full trust in all their recommendation letters but it is just how I want to present myself.</p>

<p>I always get A’s in my art class and I actually have the highest grade. What I mean by struggle is more of a personal struggle in the class. </p>

<p>But thanks a lot for your advice. I really appreciate the comments.</p>

5

<p>A lot of schools require that you have two core teachers write a recommendation. Talk to your GC about getting your Bio teacher to start writing your rec again, because if not for Chicago, then some other school will ask you have two cores.</p>