"WITH SAT OR ACT TEST scores for first-year college applicants no longer required by many universities due to the coronavirus pandemic, students’ attention is shifting to maximizing the effectiveness of their recommendation letters in order to stand out.
While new challenges of remote learning and disrupted school calendars have brought some distractions to teachers – who are adapting to a whole new way of working – students who act now and secure strong recommendations can seize the opportunity to amplify the letters’ effectiveness in their overall college application.
Now more than ever, teacher recommendations bring credibility and a nuanced perspective on which admissions officers can base their decisions, says Benjamin Schwartz, a former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and co-founder of the Sage Experience leadership development program based in Ghana." …