<p>just ask politely. period.</p>
<p>A teacher from your senior year would not get to know you enough in 3 weeks. So how can you get a good recommendation letter from him/her?</p>
<p>I don't know if this will work but I knew a senior a few years ago who gave letters along with her short oral request for a rec. She also says she doesn't expect an answer ASAP.</p>
<p>She said that way, if they didn't want to write the letter, then it wouldn't be too awkward having them try to find excuses for not writing one. They can just write a short no back saying no and I guess it lessens the awkwardness.</p>
<p>Be courteous, ask early (because sometimes they are flooded with requests), give them a resume along with your request, and remember to send them a thank you card.</p>
<p>I asked this in the first place because my ap chem teacher knows me well and I am the #1 in her class. Howerver, no one has ever asked her for a recommendation and she doesn't seem like the type who is disposed or expecting to write one either. Nevertheless, I will ask her tomorrow and see what happens. I am a little concerned about the awkwardness of rejection as mediocreme mentioned, but I rather try asking this teacher because I am an excellent student in her class and since I intend to major in chemistry. If for some reason she doesn't feel confortable writing the letter, oh well, then to heck with her, I guess.</p>
<p>Yeah I'm also wondering what Ivy_07 asked...</p>
<p>Ugh. English is my best subject, I'm planning on majoring in it/ another English related thing... and my junior year English teacher who would be the best possible person to write me a rec has told us that she flat out refuses to write ANYONE a letter of recommendation for next year. That's just great.</p>
<p>This is the same case with me sapphire, but i don't know if my ap chem teacher will be willing to write it. SUch teachers infuriate me! Anyways, I will post tomorrow what her repply was. One thing is for sure, If she decides not to write it, I am never doing service for her ever again.</p>
<p>you should try asking your teacher privately just in case though. I think it is worth it if she is the best teacher to write a laudatory letter for you.</p>
<p>okay, so is it best for the teacher to be fair(acknowledges your weaknesses) and detailed in one act/project/personal trait than be general?
Thanks guys!</p>
<p>You want the teacher to go all out for you if you can. They're like your rooting section at a basketball game, and you're the home team. The cheerleaders don't go, "Rah Rah! Zhang's the Best! Only if he gets all his Rest! Rah Rah!" Ok lame example, but I think its supposed to be all positive, heh.</p>
<p>do most teachers reuse the same letter for all the schools you apply to or do they right different ones? i know they have to fill out a rec. sheet for each school but do they usually write a completely new letter?</p>
<p>I am curious about this too. I was thinking that I could just have my teachers print out a few copies so they wouldn't have to write a new one for each school (seems like a waste of the teacher's time). But I'd like to hear some info from someone with more knowledge in these types of matters.</p>
<p>I am just starting to realize how lucky we were. As I posted earlier, at S's school, rec writing is part of the teachers' job descriptions.</p>
<p>I cannot believe a teacher would just flatly announce that s/he would not be writing any recs for the class of 07. That seems so unprofessional. Can you ask your GC to intervene on your behalf? </p>
<p>With re: to having the teacher print out a few copies of a rec, don't most colleges require recs to be sent out on letterhead by the school. I thought the student was not even supposed to see them. Or am I being naive?</p>
<p>On the other hand, if it's this tough to get recs at some schools, maybe that's your best bet.</p>
<p>I observed that at my school the teachers hand the recs to the students and they are resposible for sending it.</p>
<p>At my school, we had to give teachers a stamped envelop and ask them to send the recommendation in it.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree amdgmom, completely unprofessional. This particular teacher hates the GCs at our school so going to them for help would likely make the teacher hostile and even more unwilling to write a rec.</p>