noooo…do NOT go with a teacher just because s/he was from junior year if s/he won’t be giving you as good a rec as someone from, say, sophomore year would.
in fact, one of my two main recommenders was from sophomore year and everything turned out just fine. you want the BEST possible recommendation and, if possible, from the teacher that has known you the best and longest.
but NEVER compromise quality of the rec for a more recent teacher. teacher recommendations are some of the most important part of your application
I need to request a letter of recommendation from a teacher via email or mail but have no idea how to ask in a formal yet not erudite way. Any good phrases to ask “Will you please write a letter of recommendation for me?”
"Hi Mr. whatserface I was in your class last week and i’m apply to ______ and I am required to have a letter of recommendation to finish my admissions application. Thus having you as my favorite teacher in your class demonstrating my hardwork, enthusiasm, and motivation (well at least I hope so coffeaddict!!!), I would like to know if its alright that you take some time to write me a letter of recommendation to _____.
Thank you so much mr. whatserface, I will see you in class or I will miss you so much after moving on with my life after high school."
‘I was wondering if you would write a letter of recommendation for me’
That’s all you have to ask - teachers are asked to write them dozens of times every year. It’s likely that you’ll get a modified form letter that the teacher uses for everyone. If you’re really special, it will be highly personalized.
Make sure that you give the teacher some type of resume that lists your accomplishments, GPA, ACT, best qualities, and the schools that you’re applying to. This will make it a lot easier for him or her.
Finally - make sure that you send a thank-you letter to the teacher sometime after you get the rec letter.
I have to ask by email…my teacer actually requires it…because he gets so many requests, he accepts the first nth amount of requests and starts taking them by email at this time…kinda silly but that’s the only reason why im not asking in person…anyways i sent the email so all i can do now is wait…thanks for the replies
I asked in person “could you please write me a letter of recommendation” and the teacher said “i would love to”. But some people recommend you ask “could you please write me a good letter of recommendation” i guess if you’re not sure about how the teacher feels about you
I’m going to offer a little twist. I believe that it is important to be specific about what you want-a favorable recommendation. I believe the person writing the admission has an obligation to be truthful about what he or she expects to write. This is particularly so if you have a favorite school to which you want to be accepted. So here’s my suggestion.
Dear Teacher So and So,
I have decided to apply to XYZ college/university for admission beginning Fall 20xx. I am excited about the possibility of attending and hope I am fortunate enough to be admitted.
I believe that a strong recommendation from you would enhance my prospects for admission. Do you feel you would be willing to write such a recommendation for me? I appreciate your candor and, if you’re willing to help my application, your kindness in doing so.
I realize of course that, even with your strong recommendation, I have to consider the possibility that I might not be admitted to XYZ school. So I am planning to apply to [schools a, b, c, and d] and would be grateful if you would write a favorable recommendation for me to send to these schools as well.
Thank you for letting me know if you can help my applications. I look forward to hearing from you.
Aren’t letters of recommendation sent to the HS guidance office and forwarded (along with the student’s complete record, including transcript) to every school to which the student applies? I can’t imagine that teachers would have the time to be writing multiple letters for each student, particularly if they would be reiterating precisely the same information in each letter.
I have a question, and I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but an adcom at Columbia told us not to have a teacher who had you as an underclassman write a letter because junior year teachers know you more recently. I was planning to ask an English teacher who I had as a freshman and sophomore. I believe she knows me better than any teacher, regardless of the fact that I did not have her as a junior. Should I ask another teacher or go with her anyway?
I thought the same thing sunnybunny. I thought they write one letter of rec and then send it to guidance while guidance sends them all out along with all the other stuff at once. I think that would be more efficient.
A few of the colleges request a recommendation from a science/math teacher and another from a humanities teacher. The others just ask for two recommendations. Is it okay to assume that I can send two science/math recommendations, or do most schools really want a science/math and a humanities recommendation?
Also, I plan on asking for recommendations when school begins. I probably won’t have submitted any applications until December. Should I tell my teachers to hold off sending the recommendations until then, or will the admissions offices know where to file the recommendations?
It would be easier to just ask a science/math teacher and a humanities teacher. That way you fulfill the request from the colleges that request both and you also get two recommendations for those that don’t.
I think it would be better if you told your teachers to wait.
Unfortunately, I went through my junior year believing I could get two recommendations from math/science teachers. Would it be a poor decision to limit myself to schools that do not require humanities recommendations (this would eliminate about two schools from my list of ten)?
Most of the schools say nothing about submitting three recommendations. Is this usually acceptable?
^ Colleges strongly recommend junior or senior year recommendations. It is your call, but your rec from 9th/10th grade may be looked at askance by adcoms
As for math/science vs. humanities recs - does anyone know which colleges require this?
When my friend visited Yale he said that they didn’t care who the recommendations were from whether it was from two teachers of the math or science or humanities. It may matter for some schools so you should probably contact them about it.
I have actually noticed at my school that people who did not get reccs
from english teachers (or teachers with a subtle grasp of the langauge)
seem to fare poorly compared to those that did.