<p>Being a horrible procrastinator, I saved my letters of recommendation requests for the last possible day before Holiday Break. Consequently, one the teachers I asked warned me that if he were to write the letter, it would be a rushed job and lacking in quality.</p>
<p>We agreed upon a certain course of action-- he told me to write my own letter of recommendation, and that he would simply approve/tinker with it later.</p>
<p>So my question is essentially this: what makes a good teacher letter of recommendation? How can I make this letter stand out to colleges? Are there any key words or phrases that would help? How long should the letter be? Etc.</p>
<p>The first thing I did was deciding on what qualities I want to highlight. I started by looking at the check list of qualities on the teacher rec, and chose those that I can back up with examples. The more detailed the letter is, the better. </p>
<p>As for key words and phrases…one of my teachers said that there are certain phrases that have “inside” meaning. For example, if a teacher says “fatum has so much potential”, that means that fatum was a lazy xxx and didn’t do any work in class. So yeah be careful with your choice of words, and avoid vague descriptions.</p>
<p>However, what is most important to me is that the letter stands out as much as possible. And I think a laundry list of saying how awesome I am will be too…cliche.</p>
<p>Unless of course teacher letters of rec are unlike applicant essays, and that standing out/making voice heard is not the most important thing…</p>
<p>You can google “letter of recommendation” and you will find some decent models. </p>
<p>You don’t have to give your teacher a perfect letter for him/her to sign. Let him/her pick out the fancy words. In your draft, just be sure to include the important facts. For example, this teacher might remember that you have an interest in theater, but might have forgotten that you had a lead in the play last year.</p>
<p>happymomof1: That sounds very good, but my teacher made it pretty abundantly clear that he’s very crunched for time and that he’d like to do the least amount of work as possible (great choice on my part, right? lol). But I will definitely focus on being specific with my examples. Thank you!</p>
<p>jgraider: What exactly is sketchy about this?</p>
<p>Personal detail and strong words (the best student ever) might make yours stand out amongst the 50000 recs adcoms will potentially be reading. Or maybe you can focus on traits that are not so common in rec letters, such as morality, perseverance…etc.</p>
<p>What colleges are on your list? If you are looking at the most selective colleges, what the schools want to see is that you are one of the top students that the teacher has ever had. If that is not the case, however, if I saw that in rec letter, I would simply strike it out. The top schools want to see that you are truly head and shoulders above most all students and that you have an intellectual curiosity that makes you a candidate for such schools. Those statements need to be backed up with solid examples showing that you are superior on a national scale. If there are ratings, you need to get the top scores in all areas. Not the time to waver and be modest. I’ve seen examples where kids were turned down at the most selective schools due to a 4 out of 5 in some obscure rating area.</p>
<p>jgraider: I understand that it may appear a bit sketchy, but I promise that the circumstances surrounding my quandary are exactly as I previously described. There’s not much more I can say on that subject.</p>
<p>Fatum: Sounds good. I’ll try to make it strong without lying (or even stretching the truth, for that matter).</p>
<p>I would be very specific.
That’s my only advice and make it seem personal. Do not try to put everything in the letter, focus on a few aspects and make it special.</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t mean to imply that your situation isn’t how you described it. I just find it irresponsible, mostly on your teacher’s part, and I feel that it sort of devalues the purpose of teacher recommendations.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse: Your description hit the nail on the head. I’m currently working on my applications/essays for Princeton, Stanford, Brown, WUSL, and UPenn (all top-tier schools, obviously). My only worry is that I’ll make myself seem TOO good, and my teacher won’t approve. Otherwise, I really like your input.</p>
<p>averby: So I should make it somewhat similar to college essays, in that I only use a few, VERY detailed and strong examples? That definitely makes things easier.</p>
<p>jgraider: True, it is somewhat my teacher’s fault for not being willing to write a letter over Christmas break (he blamed it on his inability to mail stuff on time). However, I also take much of the blame because I waited until very late to start bugging him about it. I agree; but since I am where I am, I might as well take advantage of the opportunity.</p>
<p>i can’t believe that there’s no way colleges can’t tell. this MUST happen all the time. i refuse to believe that they can’t tell the difference.</p>
<p>I know- it just seems wrong to me that a student could write great stuff about themselves, have a teacher sign it, while a student who goes about the rec in an honest way may have something negative written about them because the teacher is being ethical.</p>
<p>I think this is a very awkward situation, and the teacher is probably perfectly aware of its awkwardness; he probably was irritated at your procrastinating. You can’t very well write an over-the-top letter about yourself and ask him to sign it-- “I was Mr. X’s best student in 40 years of teaching,” --but if your letter is understated, it won’t do the trick. </p>
<p>I’d get a letter from somebody else, and in the future, give your recommenders plenty of advance notice. It takes a lot of time to write these things.</p>
<p>It’s actually very rare that letters of recommendation matter one way or the other.</p>
<p>Controversial as the topic may be, I can’t do much…</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it is too late to ask another teacher because Holiday Break just started, and the next time I’ll be in school, apps will already have been submitted.</p>
<p>I agree with most of you; it is unfair that someone has the opportunity to say anything he or she wants, simply have a teacher sign it, and say it’s a “teacher” letter of rec. Hence why I aim to make the letter as honest and accurate as possible, but at the same time make it stand out and do its job.</p>
<p>jingle: I must question the validity of your statement “It’s actually very rare that letters of recommendation matter one way or the other.” I recall reading on another post that the importance of good letters are underrated…</p>
<p>In any case, keep the feedback and advice coming, please!</p>
<p>“True, it is somewhat my teacher’s fault for not being willing to write a letter over Christmas break (he blamed it on his inability to mail stuff on time).”</p>
<p>Seriously? You had months to ask your teacher and you blame him for not wanting to sit down and do extra work over Christmas because you’re lazy? I think the blame is entirely with you. I had teachers who warned us as JUNIORS that if we didn’t request recommendation letters before SUMMER BREAK, they couldn’t guarantee that they would be able to write them in the fall, period.</p>