Foreseeing Possible Letter of Recommendation Problem

Applying to College
1

<p>Most of the universities to which I am applying require one or two letters of recommendation from a junior year core teacher. I attended college, full time, instead of high school during my junior year. I will do the same my senior year.</p>

<p>Except for my AP Calculus teacher in my sophomore year, most of the teachers are no longer at my high school. I suppose the AP Calculus teacher would be a choice…but I really haven’t kept in contact. </p>

<p>I am on the quarter system in college, so I have most of the instructors for only 10 weeks. These are very full classes with little opportunity to forge relationships. I do attend office hours and study sessions, but keep things pretty much on an academic, not personal, level. I did have the same professor for both multivariable calculus and differential equations; he only knows that I’m in high school and I do well in his class…that’s it. He’s a little laid back and disorganized…not sure about the type of recommendation he might write, even if he agreed to do it.</p>

<p>We’re “herded” through English composition and lit classes, with each instructor teaching several sections a day. They barely know my name for the quarter, let alone from the previous quarter.</p>

<p>I’m a 3.99 high school/4.00 college student and actually very social and involved. I just find myself confused about whom I should ask for recommendations. I would receive great recommendations from coaches, youth agencies for which I work, etc., but, unfortunately, academic ones are the type being requested.</p>

<p>Any advice??</p>

2

<p>What colleges will want from teachers is mainly info about your performance as a student. Except for the rare cases in which teachers also advise a student’s organization, college don’t expect teachers to provide insights about the student’s ECs. When the teachers do so, it’s usually just listing info that the student has provided, so that’s not very helpful to the college.</p>

<p>Take the opp in office hours to tell the professor about yourself including that you’re a h.s. student, what kind of colleges you’ll be applying to and what you’re considering majoring in (also provide such info in writing), and ask for a recommendation. Provide the prof with graded copies of your tests and papers from their class so the professor can refer to those in the recc letter. </p>

<p>Writing recommendations is something professors do for students transferring, applying for jobs and grad school, so don’t feel that what you’re asking is that unusual. The only thing unusual about it is that you’re applying to. </p>

<p>Remember to give the professor a handwritten thank-you note after the reccs are written.</p>