Letters of recommendation

<p>Just how bad an idea is it to have 2 humanities teachers (Russian & English) write my letters of recommendation? I COULD ask my chem teacher, I'm doing pretty well in his class, but not nearly as well as I did in English (a B+ compared to a high A). (I'm definitely asking my Russian teacher since I've had her since 7th grade, she's my club adviser, etc.) I want to major in creative writing in college...</p>

<p>Is it really important to go the one-from-science-or-math/one-from-English-social-studies-or-foreign-language route? I'd appreciate to hear from people who sent in two letters from similar subject areas. Thanks!</p>

<p>It depends. If you're going into a science/math career, then I'd get one from a teacher in that field.</p>

<p>I would have rather gotten recommendations from my history and english teachers, but i was applying to engineering schools, i decided to replace one of them for a physics teacher.</p>

<p>if you're going to be studying the humanities, I don't think it's a problem.</p>

<p>What about from a teacher you had both freshman and sophomore year? I'm very close to her, but I've had little contact with her this year because of scheduling. And yes, she teaches the subject that I plan to major in, or at leaset minor (Spanish).</p>

<p>What I heard a teacher telling another student today is that it doesn't look too good to have a letter of rec from a teacher who's not recent - colleges may wonder what you were doing to merit a rec from a fresh/soph teacher that you weren't doing your junior year. But if your second letter came from a current teacher in a challenging subject, perhaps that would balance things out... just a guess, I couldn't really say. I'd ask her for one.</p>

<p>Be sure to check school requirements.... I know some schools had two forms, one for math/science and one for humanities. You should generally pick the teacher who can knows you best and can write the strongest recommendation, something that does not necessarily coordinate with grades.</p>

<p>Certain schools ask for recs only from junior or senior year teachers. Certain schools ask for one math/science and one english/history. Some schools do both. Some schools do neither...</p>

<p>But really go for at least one teacher who knows you very well. I had one teacher who knew me well, and one who I only asked because I needed a history rec. He wrote good things, but it wasn't as personal as it could have been...</p>

<p>So, in my situation, sacrificing quality to get variety worked.</p>

<p>get teachers who like you and whom you've had a more personal relationship with. there's a difference between being the best student in his class and being the student he knows best - and there's not much a teacher can write if all he knows about you is that you're smart and study a lot for his class. you're gonna want your teacher to add another dimension to your application, beyond the grades and academic records which are already stated on school transcripts.</p>