<p>so im looking for some instruction on how to do this.</p>
<p>basicly do you jsut give the form to the teacher and they give it back to u and u ship it? or how does it work??</p>
<p>thnx!</p>
<p>Most of the time the teacher sends it or gives it to a counselor who then sends it with your transcript and his/her rec. If you send it, have your teacher pit it in a sealed envelope and sign his or her name across the back.</p>
<p>but how do you approach a teacher?</p>
<p>I say: hey. wanna write a letter? will it be a good one? cool. thanks. see ya later.</p>
<p>what do you put on the envelope?</p>
<p>bumppppppppp</p>
<p>Geez,</p>
<p>You take a form (if you have one) </p>
<p>Fill out your information on the form</p>
<p>Give it to the teacher of your choice</p>
<p>Give the teacher with the form a stamped and labeled envelope to the UNIVERSITY of your choice</p>
<p>Go back to the teacher in two weeks to see if they mailed it, if not tell them the deadline is here or something like that</p>
<p>It ain't that hard</p>
<p>If you don't have a form</p>
<p>Ask the teacher if they're willing to write you a letter</p>
<p>If you're insecure, email the teacher</p>
<p>Give them a stamped envelope,too, if you want</p>
<p>any more questions?</p>
<p>You put the schools address on the envelope with a return address</p>
<p>so if you're applying to like, 12 colleges, you give them 12 sets of forms and envelopes? isnt that a little too much to ask for? if you're in your senior year, around what time is ideal to get this done?</p>
<p>No, it's not to much to ask for. </p>
<p>Senior year: You have to be on point to get things done man.</p>
<p>If you want to apply to 12 schools, you obviously need 12 sets of forms and envelopes.</p>
<p>It probably seems like a lot because that is more schools than most people apply to. Why so many? The general recommendation I've heard is 6. A friend of my daughter's applied to 14 or 15 -- I thought she was nuts. She was going by reputation, not anything particular to the colleges themselves. She didn't do that well, despite her high qualifications, probably because she couldn't show places that she had researched them and had a reason to believe they were a good match for her. She obviously didn't have much time to devote to college-specific essays either.</p>
<p>OK, you didn't ask for my advice on this one. Ignore it if you want :) But my two kids are in top 20 schools and applied to 12 colleges between the two of them ...</p>
<p>Should you ask the teacher a day or two before you give them all the forms and envelopes, just to make sure they're willing to do it? </p>
<p>Or should you go in there:
"Would you be willing to write recommendation letters for me?" (Teacher says yes) "Thank you! Here you go." (Hand them a huge folder with all the stuff)</p>
<p>The first way seems more courteous, but does it really matter?</p>
<p>No, you don't give them 12 forms. You give them 1 form which they fill out and copy. You do, however, give them 12 stamped, addressed envelopes.</p>
<p>If all 12 colleges utilize the same form, you could do that. My experience is that my kids had to use a variety of forms and they applied to many fewer than 12. If you have different forms involved, it seems easier and less confusing to just have a form for each envelope and paperclip the two together.</p>
<p>If all 12 have the same form, sure, it would be easier to give one copy.</p>
<p>Yeah ask them first... then give them the stuff a few days later</p>
<p>Make sure to send a follow up thank you letter</p>
<p>Just give them the common app form. It's the same thing for most schools out there. It'll make your teacher's life much easier if she/he only has to fill out ONE form and photocopy it twelve times (instead of copying the same things for 12 times by hand...now that's just cruel). </p>
<p>Here's how I've asked (courtesy of "Acing the College Application" pg 139):</p>
<p>Hi, Mrs. Smith. As you know, the college admissions season has just arrived. I'm applying to Jellyfish University for Early Decision, and I wanted to ask if you know me well enough to write a STRONG letter or recommendation? </p>
<p>-if the teacher says yes, it most likely guarantees that he/she will not bomb your rec (by writing "unfriendly" comments), and she/he feels confident to do a good job on it. </p>
<p>-if the teacher says NO (or I'm sorry I don't have time, stuff like that...), it is signal saying, "don't count on me. I don't have anything good to say about you..." That way, you can promptly find a another replacement teacher to do the job.</p>
<p>I posted this on a similar thread a few days ago and a lot of people thought I was being ridiculous, but...here's my advice on how to go about getting recommendations.</p>
<ol>
<li>Ask your teachers if they are comfortable writing a recommendation for you. A lot of teachers at my school refuse to write recs for kids who don't make great grades in their classes or who kids who they don't feel they know well enough. The best way to do this is to say, "Do you think that you know me well enough to write me a strong recommendation letter?" Personally, I think doing this via email is best. On the off-chance that teacher already has too many students asking her/him, or they just don't feel comfortable doing it, it won't be as awkward if it's in an email.</li>
<li>If you're applying ED/EA anywhere, I would probably ask teachers within the next week or so. That doesn't mean that they have to write them within the next week, but a lot of teachers have a sort of mental cut-off number in which they decide to only write recs for a certain number of kids. I'm only applying RD, but I have already asked one teacher and gotten a yes from her and I'm trying to decide who else to ask.</li>
<li>Here is what I am giving to each teacher. Since you are applying to 12 schools and I am applying to 10, we're sort of in the same boat. This may seem really excessive and ludicruous, but in my opinion it's worth it.</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm giving each teacher a trapper-keeper-type binder/folder thing that has individual pockets with tabs. I am labeling each tab with the name of the college I am applying to. Since I decided not to use the Common App, I am going to have the school's individual rec forms sorted into their correct tabs with as much information as I can fill out (name, address, etc.) already done. The teachers don't write individual letters for each school, they usually just write See Attached on the form and have one letter for every school. </p>
<p>In each tab, I will also have a short (maybe one paragraph) reason of why I want to attend the school. Even though the teachers are writing one letter, this can help them get a feel for what you are looking for in a school.</p>
<p>In the front will be a simple calendar sheet with a list of all the deadlines of the schools. Also on the calendar, I will mark the day that I gave these materials to the teacher (just in case they don't remember). I will also have a Post-it note attached to each individual's schools form listing the deadline.</p>
<p>Also in each tab, I am including a STAMPED (it must be stamped, don't expect teachers to pay postage for you) and ADDRESSED envelope to each college. The envelope should also have the teacher's return address on it, and specify that it is a letter of recommendation somewhere on the envelope.</p>
<p>I'm also including my activites list and a short summary of my GPA/class rank/SAT scores etc., just because some teachers only know how you perform in their class and not other subjects. Additionally, I am including an essay or project that I completed in that teacher's class and a short blurb on what I enjoyed about the class. The teacher may already know your strenghts and weaknesses in his/her subject, but if you include a sample of work that you have completed (and which has been graded) before, it can serve as a refresher.</p>
<p>Also in the folder will be about 20-30 sheets of high-quality glossy printer paper. Teachers never have enough copy paper at my school, and requesting 10 letters of rec that are probably 2 pages is worth providing the paper in my opinion.</p>
<p>Although this may seem really dumb to a lot of people, I think that paying $2 for a trapper-keeper thing is worth it to keep everything organized. Letters of recommendation usually don't make or break an application, but they certainly can help a lot. Every kid in my senior class is going to ask the same group of teachers (about 9 or 10 of them) for recommendations, so getting everything done in an organized manner will be helpful.</p>
<p>wow, this is helpful. So D has 3 schools. One of them only accepts the common application, the other two will accept it. It sounds like you all recommend that she hands the teachers the common application teacher recommendation form not the individual school teacher form, that way they just photocopy it. great idea. I can't wait until all this is over.</p>
<p>what personal information do you put on there....like name and address, thats all??</p>
<p>i'm not applying to 12 anymore, cut my list short to 8!!</p>
<p>j07, thanks for the great post! i'm definitely getting those folders.</p>