Quick question: does anybody know if Duke wants teacher rec letters to be from teachers who teach a class related to the student’s major? Also, it looks like they want them from teachers who teach core subjects, so are applicants allowed to submit a third letter from, say, a debate teacher?
In the info session, the Dean specifically mentioned they require 3 Rec letters, of which 2 should be from Core teachers (from Junior/Senior) and the 3rd one from the school counselor.
We are a little concerned about the importance of the counselor recommendation since our GC doesn’t meet with the students other than for registering courses, and barely knows her.
I know some other schools accept an extra Rec letter (from coach, mentor etc.) but not sure if Duke does.
Hi,
Duke student here. Besides the counselor recommendation, Duke requires 2 teacher recommendations (up to 3 max). They should preferably be from your core teachers who know you best (like one math/science teacher, one english/history teacher). Even better if they teach your intended major, but it doesn’t have to be related.
Duke also allows you to submit up to 2 optional recommendations that can be from any arts teacher, coach, employer, mentor, advisor, etc. Your debate teacher would fall into this category. Keep in mind that as long as you meet the two teacher requirement, you could still add additional teachers in the optional section if that is what you choose. The main difference is that the optional recommenders will not be asked to evaluate you in a classroom setting.
To sum it up, for Duke it is possible to submit a maximum of 6 recommendations (1 counselor, 3 teachers, 2 anyone).
Once you get to the page on CommonApp it will become clear how it works. Hope this helped.
The general rule for recommendations is two. Those two should be from teachers at your high school. The other two optional recommendations are available, but I would not suggest submitting those unless there is a very compelling reason you feel like that recommendation can add to your candidacy. It can do more harm submitting unnecessary recommendations. Also, the college report is where your school counselor will give a general recommendation about you.