<p>what to teachers usually focus on in their letters of recommendation? academics or outside of school things? and what do the counselors focus on? they say that the counselors "paint a picture" of you-- so do they focus more on you personally and not as much on academics? and how often do private colleges contact the teacher/counselor who wrote the letter of recommendation?</p>
<p>This will help
[Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>They won’t contact rec letter writers unless there is a compelling reason. It’s rarely done.</p>
<p>thanks so much! do you know how rare it is? do they usually contact them only if they say something unclear in the letter? i’m just asking out of curiosity.</p>
<p>The contact them 15% of the time. That’s the industry standard.</p>
<p>C’mon keee3yy – I’m kidding. Who is to know? Use your common sense here.</p>
<p>Haha I believed you for a second. But thanks for the info :)</p>