<p>I didn't realize that the majority of colleges don't accept recommendation letters from art teachers, and one of the teachers I asked for a letter of recommendation was my studio art teacher. At this point in the year, every one of the academic teachers I could possibly ask for a recommendation letter is no longer accepting requests. They all made it clear that they either only accepted requests made before the last school year ended or within the first couple of months of this school year, or that they don't write letters at all. I've considered every single one and none are open at this point. I don't think my relationship with any of them is strong to the point that they'd make an exception - not that any of the teachers at my school have ever done so anyways.</p>
<p>I asked a chem teacher and an art teacher for all of my recs; I thought academic teachers just meant school teachers, so I didn't realize art didn't count.</p>
<p>CommonApp lists literally every school I'm applying for as requiring "academic teacher evaluations." The only school left is Carnegie Mellon, which only requires 1 rec letter. Am I absolutely effed? Is there anything I can do?</p>
<p>…humm…question: Are you planning to study an aspect of the arts? IF so…then contact the schools you are applying to, and ask if a letter from the art teacher would be considered?
IF you are not planning to study art…and feel strongly about the need to have an academic teacher write a letter, then “own” this, and approach one or more until you get someone who will commit. Bring your activity sheet/resume, and get their email address, so you can make the necessary changes to your online application.
You can handle this-
APOL-a Mum</p>
<p>I am planning to minor in art at the very least, and likely double-major if possible. However I know for a fact that I can’t ask anyone else. My history, math, science, english, and foreign language teachers are all filled up. My foreign language and math teacher this year don’t write letters of rec, and my gov/science/english teacher are all no longer accepting requests. I hardly even remember my sophomore year teachers aside from my chem teacher, whom I already asked, and vice versa I’m sure none of them know me.<br>
I’ll definitely e-mail my colleges, but if that doesn’t work am I basically hosed? =/</p>
<p>You’d be surprised how effective begging can be. You may be screwed for early admissions (talk to your guidance counselor, stat, if you wanted to do that at somewhere not Carnegie Mellon), but the months between now and January 1 should be enough that some teacher will have time to take pity on you. If not, your guidance counselor should be able to intercede. You made a small mistake, and your teachers should not be so obstinate as to insist you pay a very high price for it.</p>
<p>I’ll definitely try that, but I’m really worried as to whom I might ask. My relationships with my academic teachers really aren’t too great, since my interests lie in the arts. ><</p>
<p>Sigh. Are schools generally really strict about this? I’ve seen some threads in which people talked about asking band directors, etc. for recommendation letters. Would a school basically auto-reject me if one of my letters comes from a non-academic teacher? (Ivies especially.)</p>