Before you read this you should know, I am not the most likable person.
I am a sophomore and I have no prospects for possible letters of recommendations. Next year I will take 2 dual enrollment classes each semester and I am hoping that 2 out of those 4 teachers or professors will write me good letters of recommendations for college. However, I am not the most likably person and most of my teachers in the past had a strong disliking to me because I constantly question them.
Next year I am hoping to change that. I am trying to come up with a plan to hopefully get theses teachers or professors to write good letters of recommendations. I have heard that a primary purpose of letters of recommendation are to evaluate a students academic capability and the character. I am completely prepare to spend many of my night studying to ensure that I know the lessons before they are even taught and that I can get an A, however I am not sure about the character part or getting them to like me, Hopefully I can give a great performance and it not come off as fake (as it usually does). Does anyone have any advice?
Also, My guidance consoler letter of recommendation is probably ok, but not amazing since she is kind of going threw a mid life crisis this last few years and she has been in and out of soul searching retreats and she is fairly new at the job.
“However, I am not the most likableperson and most of my teachers in the past had a strong disliking to me because I constantly question them.”
can you give an example of questions you ask? Are they appropriate to the material? Are you challenging their knowledge? their authority? Are you disrespecting them? Do they only have a limited amount of knowledge on the topic? Do you ask too many?
Like if they say “the sky is blue” and you asked “What causes the sky to appear blue?” or “What is in the atmosphere that reflects the blue spectrum?” that might be okay if you don’t ask a zillion questions.
But if you ask “Exactly what color blue is it? There is no color called sky blue. It is really azure. People who say it is blue don’t know what they are talking about” that is not okay.
You may either need to learn how to rephrase your questions or ask them at a different time. I have been in class where one person would take over the class asking any question that popped into their head but would not realize that causes us not to get through all the material. They should at some point talk to the teacher privately.
Or it may be that HS teachers are more used to being in authority and may not be as keen on push back.But College professors would be more open to questions on the topic.
But perhaps talk to your favorite teacher or another guidance counselor or the school psychologist to get feedback on how you come across. Curiosity is good but jerkiness is not.
In the DE courses if your professor says “come talk to me after class/during office hours about that” or "Let’s let someone else answer’ that means you are asking too many questions in class…they do have material they have to get through…but they have time during office hours for you to ask those questions.
They need to get to know you, and the best way to do that is at office hours. Bring those questions to their office hours and ask them. if you cannot make it to their office hours because of HS classes, then ask if they could meet at another time or even via email.
Re: character In a college class they would be able to talk about how you do, and how intellectually curious you are. But you want it to be “CJ5555 received an A in my Intro to Basketweaving course in the Fall of 2017. S/he was always prepared for class and participated in group discussions. His/her questions often went beyond the book and s/he was eager to do extra reading on the topic.”
but not
“CJ5555 received an A in my Intro to Basketweaving course in the Fall of 2017. Although s/he participated inc lass and asked many questions, s/he was not prepared to accept my answers on the topic that I have a PhD in, nor would s/he bring any evidence to back up their claims. S/he often dominated discussions.”