So I plan on majoring in Biology or another type of related natural science. Here are the possible recs I am deciding between.
<li>AP Biology Teacher - she knows me decently, and I here her recs aren’t too emotional or personal, but are to the point.</li>
<li>German Teacher - I’ve had her for 4 years, and she really respects me for my diligence and hard work.</li>
<li>AP Calc BC Teacher - she really really likes me.</li>
<li>Junior English Teacher - Will probably write about my interest in his class and how I’m more actively involved than the average student (ie talk to him more about literature etc)</li>
<li>Soph English Teacher - She likes my personality, and will probably write about my improvement throughout my junior year. I’ll have her next year too.</li>
I know you should get recs from teachers that really like you, but isn’t it good to have a science teacher write your rec if youre going into science? Also, I’ve heard that it’s a good idea to have one science/math rec and one liberal arts rec if possible.
<p>since ur going into science, pick ur calc and ur bio teachers</p>
<p>No, junior english teacher and german, to show that you're well rounded. If you have good grades in science courses, and high science SAT II scores, colleges will already know you're a top sci student. Besides, as you said, the AP Bio's rec will most likely be very impersonal, which is the last thing adcoms want. They want personal "anecdotes", stories, if you will, that speak to a given student's personality, interests, and scholastic ability. So whatever you do, DON'T pick the bio teacher. Go Jun. English and German.</p>
<p>i'd do german and Calc</p>
<p>ok rbase here are my science stats</p>
<p>freshman honors bio - B (frosh year kinda sucked in general)</p>
<p>sophomore honors chem - A</p>
<p>junior AP Bio - A</p>
<p>i'll be taking AP Chem and Honors Physics next year</p>
<p>SAT II Bio M - 770</p>
<p>Dude, do what you want. I'm just saying, I wouldn't want to be labeled the "science/math" kid. Colleges want to see well-rounded individuals. And yeah, you might have gotten an A in AP Bio, but what really is the teacher of that class gonna say about you besides "He got an A". It sounds like the teacher is not really good at writing recs. You want somebody whow will speak on your behalf through interesting stories about YOU, not about the A+ you scored on the final AP Bio exam or the 800 you got on the SAT math. Your science class stats in general are very good--outstanding even, but just looking at them, shouldn't they speak for themselves? Honestly, what more is a Biology teacher going to say about a student who scores a 770 on the SAT Bio M? He's bright? We already knew that from the score!</p>
<p>btw, how are your grades in other classes?</p>
<p>1st choice: German teacher and soph english teacher. You'd have both a "________ is a wonderful student" type rec and a "______________ is a wonderful person" type rec, from what you said.</p>
<p>2nd choice: either of those and calc. Some schools want a teacher from math/science and one from humanities. </p>
<p>Try to think a little about how good a writer the teacher would be, what the tone would be like. I had my calc teacher write one, and she loves me--we get along very well, she's even arranged special classes for me and writes me notes to go to her room whenever I don't want to go to my regular class. The recommendation was definitely enthusiastic, but she'd obviously decided to focus on my academic accomplishments, and I sounded horribly nerdy and boring. The person I pictured reading it had very thick glasses, wore mid calf, plain looking skirts and button up shirts, and carried around a pile of textbooks, walking too fast and looking at the floor, spent all her free time studying, or working out math problems for fun, and didn't have a lot of friends or other interests. My boss at the time (I worked as a math tutor for a GED class) also wrote a recommendation. She made me sound sweet, funny, generous, active, very likable. </p>
<p>Pick the teachers who will write more personal and friendly letters, who might tell the college something they don't already know. You don't need a letter saying you are good at science and very interested in it, that will be obvious.</p>