Daughter is applying for a number of BS. Her academic recommendations are done (or at least requested). She is asking a sport coach to write her personal/special interest recommendation.
He has agreed but asked her what he’s signing up for - as in how much work?
Given that the applicant (and parents) never get to see the form either before it is filled out, or after, can anyone tell me how much time and what information is requested on these forms?
I’m going to guess that you are using gateway not SÃO since your language about the Rec is gateway language.
You can see a copy of the blank gateway recommendation forms. I don’t recall exactly how to do it but I clicked around and was able to see the blank rec forms a month or so ago.
That said, the forms aren’t crazy long.
(Side note: SÃO forms are very short; frustratingly so for some recommenders.)
Bigger question:
Is the coach’s question a hint that maybe the rec won’t be great? I don’t know the answer to that but I do think that the ideal answer to a rec request is some version of Oh gosh of course I would be thrilled to support you!
(Not trying to be negative at all here. Just bringing up everything.)
1 Like
Thank you. I don’t think that he doesn’t want to write a recommendation (husband and daughter asked, I wasn’t there so couldn’t gauge intonation). But it’s a good thing to consider.
I think that it’s coming from a place of “I’ve never had to do one of these before, so how much time is this going to take?”
He’s an amazing, but very specialized coach and most kids who he trains will stay with him through high school. Daughter moving away from the training, clubs and contacts in our area to go to BS is, very likely, decreasing her D1 college recruiting opportunities. He is prob used to writing college recommendations. Going to BS is practically unheard of in our area. Our friends think that we’re insane.
She’s using Gateway and SAO so he’d have to write two different forms anyway.
Thank you for the SAO insight. I’ll noodle around the portals to see if I can see the questions.
Makes total sense.
If you do find the SÃO forms, holler. I have not been successful!
That said — I would suggest reading my recent post in parents subforum about the SÃO extra forms and checking to make sure your desired school is indeed connected with that extra rec.
Note — coach could also just write a letter and send to all the schools if one letter version feels like less work than two form versions.
And I’m sure you know this but giving a page of some sort of resume or talking points or even just “why I want to go to BS and what I plan to do there” will make coach’s life much easier and rec more compelling.
I was able to see a copy of the SAO recommender forms yesterday, so as requested, am going to summarise in the hope that it might help someone else in the future.
The Gateway forms for Special Interest and Personal Recommendation are easily found (I just used Google).
The Personal Recommendation for SAO is a combination of the two Gateway forms. It relies HEAVILY on rating the applicant on the 7 character skills which are explored in the Snapshot test.
The SAO form asks the recommender to rate the applicant using emerging/developing/demonstrating for:
Initiative
Intellectual Engagement
Open Mindedness
Resilience
Self Control
Social Awareness
Teamwork.
And then breaks down each of those skills with a rating of excellent/very good/good/average/below average/no basis to judge on multiple subquestions. For example, the section on intellectual risks is broken down into (a) exhibits reasoning and problem-solving ability, (b) demonstrates willingness to take intellectual risks, and © uses creativity.
There are a couple of open-ended questions asking about adjectives to describe the applicant, strengths and weaknesses, and how the student could continue the activity if they attended the school in question.
3 Likes
@MacJackAttack Thanks for that! I don’t know how you found it, but it is nice to have some idea of what was asked!