<p>Did your kid give the teacher a resume when asking for a recommendation letter from a teacher? </p>
<p>I suggested my son to attach one resume when asking a teacher for recommendation letter because </p>
<li><p>It’s a big public school, it’s difficult for a teacher to keep track about one particular student.</p></li>
<li><p>Son has quite a few extra-curriculum activities and awards that I am not sure the teacher knows or remembers. Some are school related, some not, even if it’s school related, sometime they forget. ( Son won a national math competition in which the math teacher as the math team sponsor took him to the competition, and two weeks late, in the class, when asked who won that competition, he did not remember. )</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But son disagree, he thinks that’s too snobby. </p>
<p>Perhaps when he asks the teacher to write a recommendation, he could say he had a resume available, if he/she wanted a copy. I would think most teachers would appreciate having one.</p>
<p>Whenever my boss is asked to write a letter of recommendation, she always asks for a resume so she can make sure she doesn't forget anything important</p>
<p>Maybe your son would feel better if he did not call it a resume, maybe just ask the teacher if he/she would like an overview of what he has done while in high school. I imagine the teacher would appreciate it, and it will make her/his job much easier. He can even use a very informal format.<br>
Good Luck in your son's college application process!!</p>
<p>S gave copy of his resume and application essay to teacher doing his recs. Since the teacher is a music teacher, thought it would be wise for her to know where he stood academically. Resume took care of that.</p>
<p>I think it is always a good idea to give the person writing the letters as much info about the student as possible. My S' essay was probably the most enlightening part of the package. Only time will tell if any of it helped.</p>
<p>I write a lot of letters for college students. They almost always give me something like a resume, and if they didn't I would ask for it anyway. It makes letter writing so much easier so it's appreciated.</p>
<p>Teachers & GC's appreciate it, from what I've seen.</p>
<p>What my son did was put it in a form of a letter to the teacher (more personal). He started out by thanking the teacher for writing the rec, then said that the following information might prove helpful (then listed his extra-curriculars and stuff he did pertaining to his major). He also included a sample of a project he did that used skills he developed in their classes.</p>
<p>I think the letter format made it less 'snobby' if that's a concern of your son's.</p>
<p>In lieu of providing a resume, I always suggest to my advisees that they write a cover letter to give to teachers along with the recommendation forms. The cover letter should politely ask the teacher to write the reference (and offer thanks at the end) and it should also include four or five highlights of the time the student spent in that teacher's class(es). </p>
<p>These highlights should be primarily academic ones ("You urged me to submit my term paper to The Concord Review for publication") but a non-academic item--or two--can go on the list, as well ("I used to look forward to our fierce Red Sox/Yankees debates").</p>
<p>The problem with giving teachers a resume is that the teachers are then likely to rely too heavily on it and to regurgitate its contents in their letters ("Ralph has been in the Spanish Club for four years and was recently elected Debate Society treasurer. He rows on the crew team ..."). Colleges will see this info elsewhere and it's NOT what they're looking for from teachers.</p>
<p>But when teachers receive a brief roster of "memory joggers" that are specific to the student's experience in their own classes, they are more apt to give the colleges the sort of information and insights that will help the applicant at decision time.</p>
<p>My daughter asked three teachers for her LOR, and they all asked for a resume. So she and I researched the internet and came up with a really presentable and professional resume. It came in handy for all the other things that she needed as the year progressed. In fact, she attached it to all of her college applications along with a picture. Also she submitted it for any of the scholarship applications that she applied for. Practically all of the things that she had to submit asked for her activities, clubs, work experience, etc and it was all handy in one document. It is a real lifesaver to have that resume ready because it is needed in so many ways.</p>
<p>I think the faculty appreciates short, sweet and salient information. Although they may appear to be "listening" in a face to face meeting, they are so inundated, that WHY you apply to College X may have simply slipped their minds within that hour...
My son gave his very edited activity sheet (only main activities) to ALL his teachers who served as references, and a very very abreviated bit about his stats. For each college, he included how his basic stats fit into the college as a match or a Reach. He did this so his teachers didn't think he was nuts/grandiose, ie he KNEW a couple of schools were Reaches. Also, in his large public school, teachers generally don't know anything much about the schools he applied to far far away, so he let them know what he would be "doing" at each school, and if he appeared to be a match or a reach as an applicant.<br>
He made a point to stop by to let them know how visits were going if he got to see a college in person.<br>
He also included a cover letter with a sentence next to the name of every college he was applying to in order to put the choice into context re how he would use a LAC vs the state flagship college etc...just in case the teacher was able/willing to cut and paste the main body of her letter with a closing statement particular to each college. (That is a lot to ask but some teachers did exactly this personal effort.) There are hundreds of students per GC in his school and a huge dropout rate, so it is unrealistic to expect the GC's to comprehend the nuances of why you are applying to six schools...completely unheard of in his school. Don't make them guess is my point.<br>
Be careful not to overdo it on the cover letter prep though or you may get a reference that sounds "just like a mirror of your activity sheet".
Get across to your reference how you visualize yourself contributing/working in each college in the future.</p>
<p>Wow, Your son really did an amazingly thoughtful job. It looks like S really needs to put more thoughts and efforts on this get-a-reference issue......we have been taking it too lightly.......I will definitely sharing this with my S. </p>
<p>My son's senior year, the school provided a list of questions for the students that is used to help teachers and cc to write college recomendation letters. The questions included: EC, volunteering, achievement, interest, strength and weakenss, etc; information that the school does not already have.</p>
<p>Our kids both had letters of reference written by teachers who could personally attest to their accomplishments from THAT teacher's perspective, not from a list of things we provided to the teacher.</p>
<p>OTOH...both kids GAVE the guidance counselor a resume because truthfully, the GC would not have had a clue about even the accomplishments or activities the kids did IN the school.</p>
<p>When D1 was applying to colleges she did put together a resume at the request of both her GC and the teachers whom she asked for a letter of recommendation. It was basically a rundown of her EC's and any honors received during her high school years.</p>
<p>When I write letters I require them too. When I asked my DDs GC if he had any thought on who the good letter writers were on our campus he said: "The letters are only as good as the reume the student provides."</p>
<p>Our school is a very small public but we as teachers don't know everything the students are involved in. I helps immeasurably to refer to the resume.</p>
<p>Probably not something for the OP's S to consider if he's reluctant to even give them a resume (and my S would never have done it), but D gave her recommending teachers and GC not only an activity list but also a short statement she had put together to help her write her essays about the common threads she in her activities that she sees defining her passions and about her dreams for the future. It sparked some interesting conversations even with teachers that knew her well.</p>
<p>My daughter gave each teacher a folder which contained a copy of her resume, her transcript, along with a formal letter requesting that they write a letter of recommendation for her. She also included a pre-stamped envelope for the teacher to mail directly to the college. (in the envelope she put a self addressed postcard for the college to mail to her when they recieved the recommendation.</p>
<p>Her reasoning for including the resume and transcript were in case the teacher was not aware of various awards or competitions that she won outside of school. </p>
<p>She was accepted ED to her first choice college.</p>