I’ve been reading about how students are providing an envelope, address and stamp for the teacher to mail in the letter of recs.
I know a friend who had the teachers put the letter of recs in a school letterhead envelope and sign across the back of the closure. Then the envelope was returned to the student and the student was then responsible for mailing all the application requirements in a large manila envelope. The college would then receive the letter of rec with proof of it not being tampered with, as the envelope signature on the back would not have been disturbed.
This also allows the student to ask the teacher to make 8 copies of the letter, sign each copy and put each copy in an envelope. The student can then decide to send the letters to whichever 8 colleges of his/ her choice. This also allows the student to ask for the letters in the Spring, without committing to which colleges to apply to.
I would think the colleges would want to receive apps all in one envelope, if possible. Am I totally mistake on how this is suppose to work? Sorry, I haven’t done a thorough search on this subject.
@ GEAF
It doesn’t matter if the letters are typed or hand written. Ask the teacher to do whatever he or she feels comfortable doing. If she feels the hand writing would be hard to read, then she needs to tell him/her to type it out…the teacher shouldn’t mind.
About the change in common app…up until last year when i sent my app (class of 2012) i sent the letters by paper…1 teacher hand wrote it and the other teacher and counselor typed their recommendations.
@ GEAF…2nd question
you don’t have to send all the apps for each college in one envelope. What your friend did does make lots of sense…you could try that out.
And you can send all your documents in separate envelopes as long as they are properly marked with your details. The admissions office will not mind.
Can I obtain a letter of recommendation from a retired teacher who I had earlier? What would be different in the process of doing so as opposed to sending out a recommendation from an employed teacher?
I’m sure they know this, but I’m just concerned that they will be a little harsh when filling out the boxes. I mean, like the middle box is top 10%!!! Then it’s like top 5%, top 1%, top 3, best I’ve ever had… Scary. So how can I nicely remind my teachers that what boxes they check is extremely important to my future?
Recs. are the most useless part of the application in my opinion. I mean, everyone is bound to have an “amazing” rec. And even you did manage to get a rec. letter from a senator or presidential candidate, all that would show is that you were fortunate enough to meet that person…
Recs are extremely important for schools that do not grant interviews to students. The best type of rec (from what I have read in college prep books) are those that describe the student as “one of the top two students I have ever had the pleasure of teaching” for example. This really jumps out at adcoms, particularly if the rec also describes “why” it was such a pleasure to have you in class, i.e., inquisitive, contributory, excited to learn, etc.
I have a really important question. I’m planning to transfer to another college for Spring 2009 semester. The thing is, it’s really early to apply(due date is Nov. 1st). But I need a professor letter of recommendation now because I won’t be taking classes in the summer…the semester ends May 17th. So should I have one of my professors do a rec and have him mail it out even though my other things will be sent much later(send out in summer)? OR should I have one of my professors do a rec, then give it to me and I’ll send it with my other things in the summer?
Can a professor even give me back the rec filled out? Help please?!
Letters of Rec. are sent seperately by the teacher! You give them self-adressed envelopes etc. and also go early in your senior or late junior year to get them. Always ask a teacher whom you know will write you a kick a$$ rec. It can be from any year so long as they write confidently about you some teachers even let you see them even if you sign a contract saying that you yourself can not.
what about asking foreign language teachers for recommendations?
I’ve heard some people say you should only ask core subject teachers (english, science, social studies, math) when applying to really competitive schools, but I will have had this teacher for three years–two of which were AP Spanish Language and AP Spanish Literature, and I know she is really fond of me
My school had us make a list of the schools we were applying to, the first school on the list being our top choice and submit addressed and stamped envelopes to the teachers.
Ugh, I’m having a bit of a rec dilemma. There are three teachers that I really want recs from.
One is my current English teacher with whom I have an amazing relationship, and who I feel can really express my passion for writing and literature. She also nominated me out of all her students for a national writing award, so I’m assuming she would mention my talent in writing.
I also want a rec from my current pre-calc teacher. Although math is definitely not my thing, I really do try hard to understand the material and my teacher notices that I’m motivated to do well. And since my top choice recommends one humanities and one science/math teacher rec, I want to have my bases covered. I doubt her rec would be stellar, but she would talk more about my general motivation in subjects besides English.
Then there’s a third teacher. He was one of two teachers I had for a Humanities class I took freshman year (he was the “designated” English teacher while his co-teacher was more social studies and history-oriented). He also nominated me for an award which I won, and he and I have maintained an excellent relationship through the school’s literary magazine and just general friendship. I feel that besides my love of English, he also knows a lot about my other interests like music, politics, etc.
I guess my question is, would sending three recs with two of them being from English teachers (although technically Humanities was a social studies course) hurt me?
In my opinion, NOT AT ALL.
In fact I think that it would be great, because it really shows your passion and talent for writing, which I assume you are majoring in something to do with English, right?
If I were an admissions officer, I would definitely give you a PLUS PLUS PLUS for your recs!
Really? Because I know a lot of these really selective schools like to see “well-roundedness” in an applicant. I mean, I’m competent in math and science, and manage to pull of A’s in those classes by the skin of my teeth, but my passion and talent definitely lie with English. And from what I’ve been hearing and reading on this whole college process, that’s almost a disadvantage for me.
Well, it depends on the school, but I would say that is definitely NOT a disadvantage; in fact, if you put that you’re interested in literature that will immediately catch their eyes.
Nobody wants to study lit anymore, it’s all bio and computer science–so I think if anything, it will show your uniqueness.
