<p>Hmm, im a junior, and im starting to think about the teachers i wanna ask for recs next year. so far, ive got 2 teachers that are bound to give me great recs. the problem is that ones an english teacher and ones a french teacher. if im planning on going into like engineering or business, would it be bad that im asking those teachers instead of say, my math or science or econ teachers?</p>
<p>It usually depends on the colleges you're applying to, but a lot of colleges frown upon a letter from a foreign language teacher. Most recommend or even require an English, and I would try to substitute the foreign language teacher for a math, science, or social science teacher.</p>
<p>just my take.</p>
<p>true... english and math teachers make good candidates for recommendations... but be sure to check out all the specifics with the colleges beforehand</p>
<p>Most colleges only specify that recommendations be from teachers of "core academic subjects"; foreign language clearly qualifies. (The other subjects are English, math, science and history/social studies.)</p>
<p>That being said, however, most engineering programs require at least a math or science teacher's recommendation.</p>
<p>Check the websites of some of the schools you're considering for their requirements.</p>
<p>My chemistry teacher wrote one of my letters of recommendation, I applied to engineering schools.</p>
<p>Just a word from an English major: I love math and science teachers, but some are horrible writers. And please note use of the word, SOME. :) Just keep that in mind, that's all I', saying.</p>
<p>I asked two history teachers and one political science professor. Looking back now, I regret not asking an english teacher. I thought about asking a science/math teacher, but honestly I didn't trust them to write it.</p>
<p>like, for all of the schools im applying to (like HYP, other top tiers), most of them just ask for two teacher recs. so i wouldnt be going against subject suggestions. overall, however, i just think that the teachers im asking know me better as a student and person. since i dont think itd do any school any good to know that i just pwned a math/sci class if the teacher cant actually talk about me as a person (since at my school math/sci classes are mainly just lecture based and not really interactive at all). but as ill be applying to engineering, it just doesnt feel right =/. any suggestions or am i fine?</p>
<p>Gotta get a recommendation from at least one teacher in your field - if you're going into engineering, get a math or science teacher to write you a recommendation.</p>
<p>depends on what you want to do.</p>
<p>if u want to do math, a good rec from a math teacher would build a strong app than one from your spanish teacher.</p>
<p>it still doesnt seem to make sense though. why should the subject a teacher teaches matter if they know me really well as a person? i mean, none of my math or science teachers really seem to like to get to know their students, but im on like first name basis with some of my lit teachers and a foreign language teacher ive had. not only that, but i would think that my math/sci grades/scores would stand for themselves? or would schools wanna know how i think as a potential engineer?</p>
<p>for Penn, I got one from my English teacher, My Mass Communications teacher (I'm gonna major in Communications, so i figured that'd be good), and one from a friend of mine that works at Penn.</p>
<p>but noones answering my question though. is it necessarily bad if i dont have a teacher from the field of my intended major write my rec (assuming the school doesnt have subject requirements)? cuz from the way i see it it really shouldnt matter that much.</p>
<p>As others mentioned, some engineering programs actually require that at least one of your recs comes from a math or science teacher (Columbia even goes so far as to specify that "Teacher Recommendation A" must come from a math or science teacher).</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with using a foreign language teacher for a second rec, but engineering schools generally want to be sure you've distinguished yourself in math/science at your high school, and they'll expect you to have verification of this from a math or science teacher.</p>
<p>I realize some math/science teachers don't write as eloquently as English teachers, but you needn't worry--admissions officers realize this, too!</p>
<p>If you have a close enough relationship with the math/science teacher you ask to write on your behalf, perhaps you can think of a tactful way to suggest he/she run the recommendation by an English teacher to be sure it's well written. I know of at least one math teacher who does that automatically whenever he's asked to write for students, because he realizes that others may use better form even though he has more knowledge with regard to the substance of the letter.</p>
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but noones answering my question though. is it necessarily bad if i dont have a teacher from the field of my intended major write my rec (assuming the school doesnt have subject requirements)? cuz from the way i see it it really shouldnt matter that much.
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<p>No, it isn't necessarily bad. For one thing, at many places your intended major doesn't mean much. </p>
<p>If you are applying to the U of C, they will not accept a rec from a language teacher except as an extra, but instead require one from English/Social Studies, probably because they want a rec from a writing-intensive field in English. Which points out something about teacher recs: they don't just want to hear about you "as a person." Despite all that touchy-feely stuff you read, they want to know what you are like as a student. So if you are presenting yourself as a future Steve Wozniak, yeah, it's a good idea to have a teacher rec from the math/science side of things. </p>
<p>It's just like SATIIs. If you are applying to Cal Tech, MIT, or Harvey Mudd, you aren't going to submit English and US History and no math/science. If you are applying to an Ivy or Duke or Stanford, it probably isn't a bad idea to submit one math/science and one humanities because they prefer students who excel across the board.</p>