I am at the end of my junior year in high school. I am planning in asking teachers if they would be willing to right letters of rec for me soon. I know it is a good idea to ask one humanities and one stem teacher. I plan on asking my English teacher. But for the stem one I wanted to ask my Computer Science teacher, as I plan in majoring in comp sci. However, I was wondering if that would be frowned upon since it is not a core class. Is it ok to ask my comp sci teacher for a letter if recommendation or should I ask my math teacher instead?
It’s probably best to ask a teacher related to whatever major you’re planning on pursuing, but also a teacher who knows you best. For example, I’m asking my AP psych teacher because I’m planning on doing something related to psychology (he doesn’t know me very well personally but I’ve shown him my passion for psychology), and I’m also asking my Creative Writing teacher because she knows me well and can write about my accomplishments, even though I’m not majoring in creative writing or English. At the end of the day, you want to ask the teachers who you know will write you great letters, especially if they teach in the field that you’re majoring in. If you’re still unsure, why not ask both? I know kids who are asking for 3-5 letters so they have a good amount of well written ones and then they’re going to pick the best ones and send them to their top choice schools so they don’t risk the chance of sending in a mediocre letter. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to ask both your math and your comp sci teacher. Good luck!
I think it’s fine to ask a comp sci teacher. Your teacher recs should come from teachers who know you well, who like you and who you also like. The adcoms are looking for an insight into your character that they can’t get from grades and test scores.
You really need to check each college’s website. Many colleges are very specific about what they want.
I checked around and the first thing I noticed was that many schools request a letter of recommendation - in the singular.
Some had no further specifications but others said things like “full year course in junior year” “traditional college prep subject” and one school (Haverford) listed five precise subject areas that you should choose your recommender from.
I don’t think my D ever saw her recommendations. Usually the teachers submit directly online through the Common App. You may need more than one letter to satisfy differing colleges’ requirements.