Help looking for advice - Math teacher too busy to write "summative letter"

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>Hi - I am looking for advice for DS who is applying to MIT as well as several Ivies (just those with international financial aid funding as DS is from Canada - just 5 schools).</p>

<p>Our system is so different here and our high school teachers are not accustomed to the additional paperwork required for the US college system - our kids get accepted mostly purely on grade 11 and 12 marks. </p>

<p>In September DS asked a math teacher if he could be used for US college recommendations and this teacher agreed (as did the humanities teacher) - the Common College App and the MIT App are quite the learning experience for us all.</p>

<p>Recently DS provided the 2 teachers with the MIT forms and "Instructions for Evaluators". The math teacher admitted to signing up for submitting the required information via the Common College Application for the other schools, but advised DS today, that he is too busy to write the MIT "summative letter", as outlined in the MIT App instructions. </p>

<p>The question is - is the summative letter 100% mandatory? Can the teacher only fill out the Evaluation A form? I read else where that some teachers just fill out the application form and if this is the case, I suppose that approach can be taken.</p>

<p>One option is to find another Math or Science teacher to fill out the required information for MIT, but this would differ from those used in the Common College App - which in itself is not problematic as the 2 application processes are so different - BUT I think with just 5 weeks before the deadline, another approach should be sought.</p>

<p>Plus, given the diversity of subjects, DS does not have any other math/science teachers that have taught him for 2 years. Usually just one year. Plus I think it would be awkward for DS to ask another teacher for the recommendation on a one-off (i.e. solely MIT) fashion - not for the rest of the Colleges.</p>

<p>The option DS wishes to pursue (good problem-solving!) is that DS can offer to "ghost write" the summative letter, i.e. chat with the teacher for 20 minutes to hear what the teacher wants him to write; and leave the editing/modifying/rewriting/signing/sending to the teacher. Meaning having DS take the first kick at the can, so to speak. </p>

<p>Thanks for any insights and advice on MIT adherence to the "summative letter" component.</p>

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<p>Calling MITChris, haha.</p>

<p>But I suppose you would probably be better off emailing the MIT admissions office and asking the best course of action. I highly recommend against this ghost-writing thing…since I sort of doubt that it’s allowed. After all, I don’t think applicants are even supposed to see the letters (until after the decisions, in which case there’s this signature involved or whatever).</p>

<p>Good luck! :D</p>

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<p>

This isn’t something that’s possible for the admissions office to forbid.</p>

<p>This sort of process – the applicant drafting a letter and the letter-writer editing or rewriting as he or she sees fit – is very common in academia in college and beyond. (I recently applied for a fellowship for which I had to draft two of my own three letters.) I don’t think it’s the ideal for a college application letter, but if the options are 1) drafting your own letter or 2) not having a letter at all, I don’t think option 1 is such a terrible one.</p>

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I don’t think this is such a worry. There’s no need to explicitly inform another teacher that he or she isn’t writing letters for most schools – just asking if he or she will write a letter for MIT is sufficient information. Although I don’t think mine is the best strategy, when I applied to colleges, I had different teachers write letters for every school.</p>

<p>

Yes, but that’s not ideal. The teacher recommendations are a chance to have someone really advocate for the applicant, and it’s to the applicant’s advantage to pick someone who will advocate very strongly, and not just at the minimum level of effort.</p>

<p>Has this teacher not written a letter for the common app schools? It’s not a problem to send the same letter to the common app schools and to MIT.</p>

<p>If it were me, I’d probably either encourage the teacher to submit the same letter as written for the common app, or else find another teacher to write the MIT evaluation. If the first teacher is really the best choice for a letter-writer, though, I wouldn’t hesitate to draft a letter if that’s what’s necessary for him to submit a letter at all.</p>

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<p>That’s fine.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the input! </p>

<p>DS talked to the math teacher in class today and the teacher relented and agreed to DS starting the letter. I think the math teacher just needs a bit of a push (and admonishment) and once started will end up doing a decent job.</p>