<p>My scores, grades, ec's, and probably essays will be decent, but my teacher recs are going to SUCK ASS. I mean, SUCK ASS. I looked at the questions that the application asks and the boxes teachers are supposed to check, and immediate thought, "oh f<strong><em>, I'm F</em></strong>'d". Same thing goes for the peer recs.</p>
<p>If everything else is decent, will bad recs kill my application? I'm planning on applying ED; how much weight does Dartmouth put on these subjective evaluations?</p>
<p>lol so are you saying that you have no friends (that would be willing to lie for you) and you don't have ANY teachers that like you? Truth be told I don't think the peer rec means that much, but below lukewarm teacher recs will hurt.</p>
<p>Well if Dartmouth is asking for a peer rec. and C/Teacher Rec. there must be some reason. A good rec. might not take you in but a bad one might keep you out!</p>
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If everything else is decent, will bad recs kill my application?
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<p>Yes. Keep in mind that most of the elite schools are not at a loss for smart students as many will tell you that they turn down perfect scorers, vals, sals etc. AJ is absolutely correct that while a good rec may not necessarily get you in a bad rec will keep you out.</p>
<p>So while you may be smart but if your recommendations state that you don't work to your full potenital, that you are a pain in the a** in the classroom, that you are a grade grubber, uncooperative, you don't work well with others, etc. you will not be considered a good "match" at schools that really work hard to craft a well rounded class.</p>
<p>For anyone who has ever been to Dartmouth the one thing that you hear over and over again is about the amazing students that you meet on campus (who also are some of the nicest students that you ever want to come across). None of this happens by accident especially when you have more than 12,000 students to choose from.</p>
<p>teacher rec very important especially if they can give insight into the person
you are. one of them should be english teacher since they compose the best,
of course ..ask to read it if possible.</p>
<p>guidance coun. are so varied in experience and over loaded in most schools that they can be totally a waste...they are familiar with the troubled kids and rarely know the good students...always read what they write if possible..
my s g.c. first draft was so generic we asked her to redo it and be more
specific</p>
<p>peer rec.......not important ...just get one done</p>
<p>alumni rec (hometown interview)....dont worry if you dont get one...the importance is way over stated and can only hurt u if alum writes you a negative...almost always never helps since they are usually all positive
so 14000 rave reviews dont make u stand out..</p>
<p>the peer rec and alumni rec are last in importance and may help in a coin
flip ,,that is you and another applicant are tied for dead last in acceptance</p>
<p>isacc: Thanks so much for elaborating. I can breathe much easier now.</p>
<p>sybbie719: It's not that I'm a bad student; I listen attentively in class, I work well on labs with others, I'm a very nice kid--it's just that I don't particuarly stand out at a super-competitive high school that sends a lot of kids to the Ivies, and my recs probably won't be too enthusiastic. I'm just wondering how I'll compete with the kids who go to bad schools and thus their teachers truly think that they're the "best in his/her career" and thus can check those boxes.</p>