<p>Is it inappropriate to use letters of recommendation from teachers who you worked with outside of your high school? Like a private music teacher or, in my case, a teacher who I've studied acting with for the past two years?</p>
<p>It depends on what the college asks for. If they ask specifically for two letters from your core subject teachers, then a music teacher or acting teacher wouldn't fit the criteria. However, if they ask for teachers from your areas of interest/extracurriculars, then those would be fine (it'll most likely fit under supplementary recs).</p>
<p>Quote: "If I need, for example, 10 letters of rec from one teacher, and most of these colleges use the common app, but 1 or 2 need a certain format of rec letter, is it uncommon or rude to ask a teacher to format the letters of rec 3 different ways? How many DIFFERENT letters of rec do you think would be alright to ask the teacher for (I go to a pretty large school, with almost 700 students in the graduating class)? How many teachers do you think I should pick to write my letters of rec if I am applying to 10 schools?"</p>
<p>I would really like to know the answer as well.</p>
<p>Reno,
In most cases, it would be fine to use your music teacher as a supplemental recommendation if they will be adding important information about you that your academic school teachers can not. Be sure to check with each school - some schools will NOT accept supplemental recommendations, most will. The music teacher should not use the actual form, but write a letter of recommendation for you that includes your name and social security number so that they school can get it in the right folder.</p>
<p>Underthebelljar</p>
<p>It's impossible to say whether a particular teacher will be able to send 10 or more recommendations because it really will depend on the teacher and how many recommendations they have agreed to do for other students. When you approach the teacher, be sure to explain how many schools you are applying to and ask if they can handle the extra work. In most cases, teachers will write one letter, then attach the form for each school to it. They will check off the boxes on each school form but not write a completely new letter. If there are some specific questions that are unique to a recommendation form, you might note that on the form using a post-it note so they can see it easily.</p>
<p>If a teacher does agree to write recommendations, make it easy for them - give them each school's form in a little folder with the addressed stamped envelope. Note the name of the school and the date the rec. is due on the folder.</p>
<p>Remember, most teachers have been asked to write recommendations before so they do have a good idea of what is involved and how much time and work it will require. If they say they don't have time to handle so many recommendations, believe them and ask another teacher if necessary.</p>
<p>Help them to help you. Heed their advice if they hint to you that they are overburdened. If you be nice, they can even steer you (subtly) into the right direction. :)</p>
<p>Can I print the "Tips of Teacher: section on collegeboard web and hand it out to rec teachers with other forms?? just more convenient...?</p>
<p>bump
......</p>
<p>yes, why not?</p>
<p>I dont understand either, why teachers have to write 6-8 recommendations.... I thought that the teachers only have to write the common application recommendation part</p>
<p>yes same as previous poster. I didnt know that there were so many recs involved. I always thought all you had to do was find two teachers, one in humanities and one in science or math. Also earlier posts mentioned that UPenn and Williams are very different colleges and expect very different things in the rec. I clearly understand that they are completely different in terms of liberal arts school, etc- but how does that change what the teacher writes in the rec?</p>
<p>
[quote]
but how does that change what the teacher writes in the rec?
[/quote]
that was me ... in the best case each recommendation should have a couple lines tying the applicant to a particular school. </p>
<p>For Williams, for example, a teacher might write "this applicant loves to share her/his ideas and actively seeks out the ideas of others ... s/he would both thrive and enrich the learning environment of Williams' small classes". This comment would strengthen an application to Williams however this comment would be not be effective at all for Penn.</p>
<p>Gregster and Deference, If you're using the common application for all of your schools, then you are correct: the teacher will have far less work to do. </p>
<p>Even so, preparing 10 or more common application recommendations will still take a bit of time for teachers. If they are willing to customize each letter as 3togo suggests, their recommendations will take even more time. Be sure to let them know in advance how many rec's you're asking them to put together. </p>
<p>If you do use the common application, you should still print out individual teacher rec forms for each school and fill in the top part to give to your teacher along with the stamped addressed envelopes. </p>
<p>If you are not, for some reason, using the common application, things get tricky because schools do sometimes have slightly different questions for teachers on their individual recommendations. These types of recommendations may indeed require a bit more time and effort from teachers. </p>
<p>The bottomline: not all teachers will be willing to do a large number of recommendations, regardless of whether you are using the common app. or not. Some teachers set limits on how many rec's they'll do, others set limits on the number of students they will write rec's for. It is wise to ask the teacher about any such limitations up front and let them know how many you need. Be polite and understanding if they can't handle the large number as said above, they may be able to point you to another teacher who can give your recommendations more time and attention.</p>
<p>i have a question: I go to a large public high school and I want to ask my two favorite teachers to write my recs for the 5 private schools im applying to. Obviously all these recs ask basically the same thing, but they still take a lot of time to complete. Would it be okay to ask the two teachers to write 5 different recs each? What would be a way I could save them time, besides filling out all the stuff that I can fill out by myself before giving them the recs?</p>
<p>I feel that maybe now it is too early to ask my counselor since my school uses a block system and counselor has just too much work to accomodate each student's schedule....When I talk him in advance today he said he is too busy rite now.....but he does not quite seem to understand the reason I call him this early. (My counselor kinda of sux too...slow...always forget things...donno much about U.S schools)</p>
<p>I mean for Early Decision....should I have an appointment with him maybe next week or so?? or I just wait a bit longer maybe until Oct to give him forms and letters stuff??????</p>
<p>Do you really need teachers from different subject areas? How about two social science teachers?</p>
<p>Basically, you are ONLY supposed to fill out the part at the top of most forms (student name, etc.). The Teacher (or other recommender) is supposed to fill out all the rest. The teachers are quite used to filling out these forms & they're made fairly easy for the teachers to work with (the schools know teachers are very busy). It helps teachers if you give them all the forms & stamped envelopes at once rather then "dribbling" them in. Give them LOTS of lead time (like a month or so is good).
The GC at our school STRONGLY recommends one rec from science/math and one from social studies/english. This gives more perspective about you as a student. If your major is going to be a different area (like fine arts or language, you may wish to substitute a rec in that field).<br>
Your GC should have more specific ideas relating to your situation -- your strengths & the schools you're applying to & your interests.
According to the GC, the schools want the teachers to write about you IN CLASS as a scholar, so the adcoms have a better idea of the kind of student you are. Annecdotes are very helpful, rather than the generic, "great student/kid." Teachers should know this.</p>
<p>Teacher reccomendations? Here's a question. My son's GC says he doesn't have his teachers fill out the actual app teacher reccomendation form. They just write out a blerb on school letterhead. Is that acceptable? What about some of the specific information on the app form. Will my son's school policy hurt his application?</p>
<p>My guess is that adcom's are VERY used to overburdened guidance offices at public schools. I refuse to believe that the little forms with check boxes make a difference. The letter is the meat of the recomendation. Maybe part of this is wishful thinking on my part. Our school district had a mass retirement last year due to a new retirement policy. My daughter got recomendations from 2 now retired teachers on the common application form. These will have to suffice even at the 2 schools she's applying to that don't use the common app. I really think it will be fine.</p>
<p>What about using a math teacher, even if he isn't a great writer. It is my third year with him and I feel he has seen me grow up- but I'm not sure if he can articulate that (He's written me a letter before, and well, he's no english teacher). I think I'll write him a cover letter explaining what his class has meant to me...the only other option for a math/science rec is my AP Chem teacher, but while I got a 5, I didn't shine in the class.</p>