I’m a rising senior, I’ll soon need to start looking/asking for teachers to write me letters or recommendation… and, I have some questions! If some of you more “experienced” cc’ers could answer these that would be great! or anyone who just has an opinion to add, that’s cool too!
Thanks.
so…
<li>what makes a GOOD rec? What makes it average? What makes it bad? </li>
<li>Should the teacher writing it be talking about my academic achievements or what? </li>
<li>Who are the best teachers to ask? </li>
<li>How do I go about asking for recs? What should I say? And should I give the teacher a thank you note or something after he/she writes the rec? </li>
<li>And should I notify/ask the teachers about the recs before the end of this year, or at the start of the next when i actually need the recs?</li>
<p>At the risk of bragging, my son's rec letters were stellar. He had one from the Principal, an alumni of the school he was applying to and a friend who works for the school he was applying at. We thought long and hard about who was going to write these letters and it was well worth it.</p>
<p>All of these people mentioned in their letters about his character and what he had done for the school and his community. </p>
<p>Start planting the seed now...and most importantly, find out from other people who writes the best letters. Lets face it, if you can find someone who writes compelling letters, thats who you want to write your letter! The Principal wrote a great letter, however, the friend wrote a letter that knocked your socks off.</p>
<p>Letters that say, "this was one of the best students, they are a hard-worker" is not that good. Every rec letter says that. A good to great one highlights some part of your personality that isn't displayed in the rest of your application. </p>
<p>It's fine to mention some academic achievement, but that is primarily what your application (the rest of it) is for. You're already given a chance to talk about that, in the awards section or in your essay.</p>
<p>The best teachers to ask are those who know you personally. That doesn't necesarily mean out of class, but a teacher who knows you're a bit quirky because they've seen it. And of course, if they ask for a math/science teacher, or are specific than get that kind of teacher</p>
<p>Definetely send out thank you notes, it's a kind gesture. </p>
<p>I would say not until the beginning of next year, but if it's ea/ed or early rolling where they ask for them, you might mention it to them</p>
<p>Well, i'm kind of a shy person in class. I dont' speak up much in most of my classes but I do well in all of them. I'm really scared that most of my teachers wont even be able to remember me by next year, or just wont have anythign good to say besides " she's a hard worker"</p>
<p>"So can letters of recommendation be from any teacher I had during the course of high school?"</p>
<p>Some admissions and scholarship applications has specific criteria for rec letters, i.e. teacher, GC, community member, math or science teacher. What colleges are you thinking about? Check their website to see if you can download the application and see what the rec letter guidelines are.</p>
<p>Usually colleges want a teacher who has taught you academically (in a core class, e.g. History/Social Sciences, English, Math, Science, Foreign Language, etc.) in 11th or 12th grade. I don't know if the colleges say it on the website, but it makes sense--people change a lot over the course of four years, and if you get two recs from your freshman Bio and freshman English teachers, for instance, the schools might start to wonder what happened to you that you don't have any good recs from later on.</p>
<p>Some schools require a rec from a math/science teacher and a humanities teacher. Some will not accept extra recs. It depends on the school. Don't submit an extra rec if they don't allow them!</p>
<p>P.S. Of course, this may depend on the school you are looking on. I am pretty sure all the colleges I have looked at talk about two academic-core-class teachers, as well as a required counselor recommendation. This may depend on the school.</p>
<p>Examples of simply going to college websites to answer your questions:</p>
<p>Santa Clara University Letter(s) of Recommendation
The recommendation letter should be completed, signed, and sealed by a school official. If possible, please send the sealed recommendation letter along with the other required documents. One letter is required from a teacher, counselor, or advisor, but you may send up to three. Additional letter of recommendation forms are also available.
<a href="http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/freshmen/requirements.cfm%5B/url%5D">http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/freshmen/requirements.cfm</a></p>
<p>sorry to bring this really old topic back up but here goes...</p>
<p>How do you all see teh rec.? Dont they have to mail it in? And you have to give them the forms, I would feel wierd walking up to my teacher and asking him to fill out 10 recommendation forms from all different univesities, and if the letter isn't good then wouldnt that screw me over?</p>