<p>(1) What constitutes a "good" recommendation as opposed to a "bad" recommendation?
(2) What constitutes a GREAT recommendation?
(3) When should I ask my teachers for recs if I want to apply EA?
(4) What aspects of the student should a teacher focus on while writing a good-great recommendation?
(5) Is it at all helpful to get an extra recommendation from a professional with whom I've worked? It will mostly indicate my state leadership in an important human rights organization.</p>
<p>Can someone post an example of what YOU think is a great recomemendation and one YOU think is a bad recommendation?...so people (like savoirfaire and me) can see the difference.</p>
<p>Hal29 (i think it was him) put a hyperlink to a really cool Time article on the first couple pages of the really popular "ECs hrs/week" thread...some of your questions will be answered there as to what adcoms look for.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In the book "The Gatekeepers" in which a reporter for the NY Times followed the admissions committee at Wesleyan (a top LAC) for a year is a real-world example of a bad rec.
[quote]
There were times, I must admit,that I thought Tiffany might have taken a stronger interest in mastering the material in our course. When I saw that Tiffany was a National Merit Semi-Finalist I was a bit surprised. While clearly bright and competent, I had seen in Tiffany neither an exceptional skill for testing nor a particular affinity for the subject.
[/quote]
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.</p>
[quote]
In the book "The Gatekeepers" in which a reporter for the NY Times followed the admissions committee at Wesleyan (a top LAC) for a year is a real-world example of a bad rec.
Quote:
There were times, I must admit,that I thought Tiffany might have taken a stronger interest in mastering the material in our course. When I saw that Tiffany was a National Merit Semi-Finalist I was a bit surprised. While clearly bright and competent, I had seen in Tiffany neither an exceptional skill for testing nor a particular affinity for the subject.
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.
[/quote]
any other examples other than this one? I've seen you post this in at least 5 threads... Plus, that's only one paragraph in the rec, we need to see the rest of the rec to get a general idea... no one is perfect</p>
<p>Well, bob, it's like this. People don't make a habit of searching for old threads to see if their question has already been answered. If we took a poll here, I'd bet its the first time most people have seen the quote.</p>
<p>You want more examples, you're more than welcome to go find them. I'm looking forward to seeing your contribution to the thread.</p>
<p>I don't understand the purpose of the question. Is the OP going to hold her teacher's hand while she writes the rec? Even if some sort of model existed, wouldn't the adcoms begin to spot all of these recs coming in that read exactly the same way?</p>
<p>FWIW, I think the whole idea is to just pick a teacher you know you've done your best work for, who knows who you are, and won't stab you in the back.</p>
<p>There are teachers that write good recommendation letters(as in well written). At my D's HS it was well known who those teachers were. You make sure you have some of them during your Junior year, and make sure you work your bums off in those classes. When you ask a teacher for rec, if he can't write a good rec for you, he would most likely decline. You don't get to see the letter and you can't tell your teacher what to write, unless what you are saying here is that your teacher is willing to write whatever you want him to write and he is looking for a sample.</p>