<p>I want to ask my Spanish 3 Honors teacher for a recommendation. I have a good relationship with her, and she likes me.</p>
<p>There's a possible problem, though. I often went up to her and asked for clarification on grammar rules / spelling. She liked our interaction, but I'm worried that colleges might see me as unable to learn on my own.</p>
<p>Spanish wasn't my strongest class, but I worked hard and did well. Should I ask her for a letter of rec?</p>
<p>Yes, absolutely.
“unable to learn on my own” could also be stated as “willing to ask for help”. People who are unwilling to ask for help don’t get far.</p>
<p>Being willing to ask for help is a plus. Unfortunately, many students get low grades including in college because they are too shy or passive to ask for help.</p>
<p>depends on who else you have to ask for a letter.if you feel she will give you the best possible reco, then go for it</p>
<p>I agree with the moms above.</p>
<p>so either you are calling me a mom or you disagree with me :P</p>
<p>Antarius, I don’t disagree with you, exactly, but I infer that you think the asking-for-help thing is a greater issue than I do.</p>
<p>As a teacher who’s written a bunch of college letters, I think the OP’s asking for help shows determination. If I were an admissions officer, I suspect I’d be impressed that the OP solicited a letter from a teacher whose class wasn’t particularly one of the applicant’s strengths. (But I concede I’m just guessing about this. I might feel differently if I had to read applications and recommendations until my eyes hurt.)</p>
<p>As for whether you’re a mom, I just sort of assumed you were male from the fact that your screen name ends in -ius.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful responses :)</p>
<p>Aha, one more add…</p>
<p>I mostly asked this question because of something I read in “What you don’t know can keep you out of college.”</p>
<p>The section titled Showing Independence criticized a student essay that said,</p>
<p>“My History teacher was always willing to help me when I became confused. She patiently always took the extra time to be sure I understood. Without her insight, I would have been lost and totally bored. She pulled me through her course.”</p>
<p>The college interviewer responded by saying, “His teacher may have shown him how to get there with help, but we have plenty of applicants who can get there on their own.”</p>
<p>Albeit, it’s a more extreme version of dependency, but I’m still disheartened by the interviewer’s response.</p>
<p>^bump for above concern</p>
<p>I think the problem with that essay is the “I would have been lost and totally bored.” The interviewer probably thinks that good students are able to show interest and seek help even if the teacher isn’t helpful. I don’t think the issue was that the student asked for help.</p>
<p>^Thanks.</p>
<p>Any other advice? I could ask my calc teacher, whose class I performed better in, but I didn’t participate or talk to her that much. She said that I was very good at math and had a good sense of humor.</p>
<p>But I think I’d rather ask my Spanish teacher if it doesn’t hurt me :)</p>
<p>i agree with AtomicCafe.</p>
<p>Luminouzz - Ideally you received help from a teacher when you went above and beyond the basics. A lot of colleges want students who dont need to be carried to the finish line. But if you want to break the world record on the way and need help, that is a good sign.</p>
<p>The problem with asking a teacher that you didnt interact with much ios their reco might be generic. A generic recommendation letter is going to hurt your application</p>
<p>I see. What do you mean “want to break the world record on the way and need help?” </p>
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<p>This is what I’m worried about. My calc BC teacher would say something along the lines of: “One of the few juniors in a class of seniors. Very good at math. Great work ethic, and good sense of humor. Interacted well with classmates. I enjoyed having him in my class.”</p>
<p>Is that generic? My Spanish teacher would probably write a more personal rec.</p>
<p>what i mean is - i spent a lot of extra time working with my physics/chem teacher. That was because we were working on stuff that was out of the basic syllabus. Like if your teacher writes “My teacher was always willing to help. He encouraged and allowed me to go above and beyond the syllabus presented. He always encouraged us to use what we know and build upon that knowledge to learn more” or something, it looks like you a. got help b. took responsibility and the onus of performing well.</p>
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<p>that, to me sets off generic warning bells. My mom told me she got a reco that said “<my mom=”“> is a good student and has good moral character”. no one really knew what ‘moral character’ was referring to…</my></p>
<p>Id go with the personal rec. I got a great rec from one of my teachers who knew me well. He told me he talked about me. It was positive although he painted a rounded picture of me, including the fact that I would distract the class from time to time</p>
<p>I see :)</p>
<p>I didn’t really go above and beyond though. I asked questions to do well in the class. I guess my math teachers rec would be too generic.</p>
<p>My other rec is coming from my sophomore english teacher. She knows me well, and she’s helped me with creative writing for two years. I don’t know whether that will offset a generic math rec.</p>
<p>thats just my 2c.</p>
<p>Id go for the person who knows you better. You can always send all 3. some places accept additional recs</p>
<p>^Thanks for your advice :)</p>