Hello everyone! sorry about the very dramatic title. I am a grade 10 student applying for a boarding position for grade 10 again (repeating) at Exeter, Hotchkiss and a few other schools. As most of you guys know, a CURRENT English teacher recommendation is required. however this is where the problem occurs. I am in Canada currently and the area I am from has like 0 boarding school applicants especially because my area only has public schools and I attend a public school as well. Canadian teachers seem to be less worried about bs applications because last year when I applied to Exeter, my math teacher and English teacher only wrote their letters 2 weeks / 1 week before the due dates even though I mentioned my application months before. anyways, my current English teacher is very strict (and I don’t think they like me very much if I am being honest) and she does not want to write me a letter because she has to write multiple of her seniors letters and does not view me as a priority. what should I do? please help! thank you for reading my messy post
Could the teacher write the recommendation after the winter break (in January)? You could let them know that you appreciate how busy they are now and ask if it would be possible for them to write one in January, after the seniors are done. The deadline isn’t until mid-January, so there is time. And it does not matter if the recommendation arrives in October or January, so there is no rush.
If the teacher just refuses to write one, you can contact the admissions reps at the schools where you’re applying and explain that your current English teacher does not have the bandwidth to write your recommendation in addition to the loads of seniors they are writing for and ask if you can utilize a different teacher or if there is any other way to get around this sticking point.
No matter what you do and the person you’re talking to/with, just be polite, understanding, calm, and don’t place blame. Your teacher will appreciate your understanding and flexibility (even if they cannot write the letter) and your boarding school reps will appreciate your maturity and straightforward communication.
Are you taking another class that is similar to English, like history for example? My child’s LPS operates under a block schedule, so they weren’t taking one of the classes that required a recommendation during the fall semester and the schools were happy to accept a letter from a different teacher. (And if it makes you feel better he is currently enrolled at Exeter.)
I am taking Law 12 and AP Human Geo 12 + my English course for humanities. Do you think I should email to see if they will accept letters from any of my other humanities course teachers?
Thanks for your response! I talked to an admissions officer from Hotchkiss during my interview and they said that they do accept letters well after the due date. However after talking to my English teacher she hasn’t directly said it, but she seems dead set on not writing me a letter. It is in her ‘principles’ to not write a non-senior a recommendation letter. I also don’t want to pressure her into writing me one since she already doesn’t like me all that much as well as I don’t want her to poison my recommendation letter. How should I email to make it seem like I’m not blaming, but asking for an excuse and being polite? Sorry and thanks a lot for your help!
I would just be direct and tell the admissions reps that you requested a letter from your English teacher and explained why it was needed, but she informed you she does not write letters for non-seniors or anything other than college admissions. Then I would ask if they would be okay with you having last year’s teacher or another teacher from this year write a recommendation.
I would have your parents politely speak to the principal of the school about this situation.
As a teacher, if I were pressured by my principal to write a letter of recommendation, I would write it very candidly.
Some schools accept letters from humanities. So you can do that for those. But for the ones that need current English teacher - I would write to the admissions office and explain your situation and ask them if you can send other humanities LOR or your previous english teacher