My child has fabulous relationships with 3 High School English, Literature, Journalism teachers and has asked one for a letter of reference. My child wants to study Computer Science and guidance counselor stated that a Math teacher should write a recommendation. My child has a good relationship with math teacher but he knows nothing about her outside of the class (extra curricular, honors, sports, groups etc.) While I’m sure he’d give her a good recommendation, my child wants to ask private math tutor (also a teacher in another district) who has worked with my child for 4 years. One college admin counselor stated to go with a recommendation from the tutor because that would show continuity over the 4 years but others have said that using a tutor would not be a good idea as we pay for the tutor. My child has had same math teacher for 2 years and tutor for 4 years. Does anyone have experience using a tutor for a letter of recommendation on college applications and any negatives? Thanks this is my first post!
I would not get a recommendation from a person you pay.
Not a good idea to have a reccomendation from someone you not only pay but have a non professional relationship with.
Letters should always come from a high school teacher. Request a letter of rec from the math tutor as a supplementary letter. Provide the additional letter only if colleges request additional info.
This is a question for the more experienced posters, but is it a good idea to highlight the fact that a child needed a tutor for math, especially if s/he is looking to go into a math heavy field like CS. Perhaps this might not be the case if the tutor worked with the child to advance to math levels not usually taught at your school.
Please understand, I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with using a tutor, just that I might not highlight it in the application.
Excellent point!! The kids who need to pay a tutor are typically the ones who struggle. Whether or not that was the case here is immaterial; it’s all about perception.
And, for what it’s worth,I wouldn’t trust the opinions of the strangers here-- MANY of whom are high school students themselves, over that of my child’s guidance counselor.
I wouldn’t breathe my kid had a tutor, except in very rare circumstances. College’s provide academic support but the competitives aren’t looking for kids who needed four years of it through hs and come to college needing support on basics. (For success, you may want a less competitive college.)
“…but he knows nothing about her outside of the class (extra curricular, honors, sports, groups etc.”
He’s not supposed to, unless, say, it’s the math teacher who also coaches the math team. It’s the guidance counselor who may include the nicey nicey.
Look at what the colleges say. An educator who has taught her in class, her work and relative success in the group.
Right oerson, right rec.
Most schools want LORs from academic folks- not coaches, clergy, employers or tutors. This isnt hard and fast, so check with the school website to see if they will accept a LOR from someone who knows the child well in another arena, but I wouldn’t recommend a tutor write a LOR.
Thanks!
Thanks to all who responded to my post!
You’re welcome. Good luck to your daughter!
@Mariejf There is an option which hasn’t been brought up yet - have your daughter spend time chatting with her math teacher over the next several months to enable that teacher to appreciate your daughter’s EC’s. I teach AP Physics and engineering (among other sciences) in high school and write about two dozen LOR’s for my students each year, some of whom I know little outside of their class performance. Instead of writing a bland LOR that merely cites their in-class performance, I spend time over multiple sessions getting to know their out of classroom interests, achievements, responsibilities and aspirations. I talk to people who know about their ECs to gain additional perspective and confirmation. For a few students who aim for admission to the most selective colleges, I task them with extra project work to gain first-hand knowledge of how they approach challenging situations. These are completely voluntary and do not impact their course grade, but merely give me additional opportunity to get to know them and to write more detailed and meaningful LOR’s.