<p>Is it okay to get a letter of recommendation from a teacher I had sophomore year?</p>
<p>I already have a recommendation from my junior year English and journalism teacher, but I've been putting off asking for a letter from my sophomore year history teacher because I've been told it doesn't look good. My sophomore year history teacher is one of my favorite teachers, and it was his class that made me decide that I want to major in history in college. Not only did I do exceptionally well in his class, but I have gotten to know him personally and have talked many times outside of school. I'm sure he would write a great recommendation for me and I don't really have any other junior year teachers that I'm comfortable asking for a recommendation from.</p>
<p>you’ve got a dilemma. it does look bad that you don’t think there is another teacher who has taught you more recently who can provide a good recommendation. a recommendation from a sophomore year teacher, no matter how glowing, is a bad idea because colleges want someone who has seen you in the more rigorous junior and senior year courses. I kind of had a similar situation but I managed to get into a social studies honors elective this year (a film class) that is taught by my sophomore year history teacher. He’s now a recommender for me and it looks good because he can say he’s taught me two years. Is there any chance you can take an elective this year from this sophomore year teacher?</p>
<p>Colleges care that it’s a teacher you had recently? If so than that’s a load of bull poop. If a teacher has something good to say about you then why does it matter when you had that teacher?</p>
<p>colleges do care and they’ll notice whether it’s someone you had in 11 or 12. If you can’t find a teacher from the last two years who’ll say something nice, they think something’s wrong.</p>
<p>It’s not horrible to have one recent and one earlier teacher, but more recent is definitely better. And if any of your schools want just one rec rather than two, submitting the more recent teacher is the way to go.</p>
<p>What if I want to ask my sophomore history teacher who will also be teaching Theory of Knowledge (IB requirement) for my junior and senior years?</p>
<p>The class meets during lunches 4/10 days and during one full block once every two weeks, so it doesn’t meet regularly, as other classes do, but it’s something. Right?</p>
<p>i’m in the same situation… i want to ask my 10th grade apush teacher. I’ve only had him in 10th grade, but he’s the advisor of a debate club that i founded, and i talk to him a lot outside of class. There are other 11/12th grade teachers i could ask, but he knows me better than the other teachers do. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I agree with Sailor26 - don’t over think it. It sounds like you have a teacher who can say great things about you, and you’ve kept a relationship going by continuing to speak with him (I assume about history?) outside of class. If he mentions this, it says a lot about your interest level in the subject. Can he mention in his letter something about your studies this year? Like, “holltee continues to be a student of history by taking AP US History (or whatever) this year, where my colleague tells me he is once again a leader in the classroom…”</p>
<p>Bumping to ask about my own situation. I’m getting one letter of recommendation from my French teacher, who I have had from sophomore to senior year, but I was thinking of getting the other from my sophomore AP World History teacher. I got an A in his class, a 5 on the AP exam, and he is also the head of the foreign languages/social sciences department at my school. I had to go to him for approval to take three languages at once, and he really likes me. Whenever he steps into one of my classes (which is fairly often since he’s the head of the department in which I am taking six classes), he always asks how I’m doing and stuff. He’s a very enthusiastic person, and I think he would write me a great recommendation.</p>
<p>Junior also wasn’t that great of a time for me. I nearly failed Calculus BC, my physics class was okay, but I clearly did not enjoy the subject. I could ask my Chinese teacher, but it seems that French and Chinese are a bit too close; colleges usually want the letters from different academic areas, don’t they? My English teacher is a definite possibility, but if it won’t look too bad, I think that sophomore teacher would be a better choice since he knows me better.</p>