<p>So I feel really dumb for asking this, but I'm 100% cofused on the Letters of Recommendation process.</p>
<p>First of all, do I simply send off my application and then mail the teacher letters separately?</p>
<p>For applying to Texas, I can't seem to find the letter of recommendation form anywhere and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do there.</p>
<p>For Northwestern and Harvard, I found the Common App "letter of rec" pdf file. Do I just print this off and give it to my teachers for them to fill out and mail?
And if I'm applying to multiple colleges, do I simply print this form and ask them to photocopy it to send to multiple addresses?</p>
<p>I'm very confused about this whole process; please help.</p>
<p>I'm also confused about how to apply to many colleges, and if it's okay if the teacher fills in the form once, and photocopies the rest to different universities. </p>
<p>I do know, however, that it is acceptable to send in the application online, and then papermail the LORs.</p>
<p>wait until you've settled on the list of colleges you want to apply to, then hand the form(s) to your teachers at once. It's annoying to ask them to write a few letters, then come back and ask for "one more", and then at the last minute ask for "just these last two".</p>
<p>Typically the teacher sends the forms in; you waive your right to see them, so it would be a little suspicious if you mailed them. Give them stamped and addressed envelopes. I'd suggest going to the post-office and paying the postage to send them certified; for about $3/letter you can check online to see they got mailed (so you can remind the teacher as the deadline approaches if they haven't been sent) and have proof of delivery if the college loses them.</p>
<p>Lastly, be sure to ask your teachers if they'd be willing to write you a strong letter of rec. Sometimes you've just rubbed a teacher the wrong way, and if they write your rec it can trash your chances. By asking, the teacher will either say they can or suggest you ask someone else for a rec.</p>
<p>And while it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher, it HAS to be done. The book "The Gatekeepers" follows a year in the Wesleyan admission office, and gives an example of a bad rec. Now you got to figure this girl did not deliberately seek out someone to 'dis her in a rec, she must have thought the teacher would endorse her. But look what happened:
[quote]
There were times, I must admit,that I thought Tiffany might have taken a stronger interest in mastering the material in our course. When I saw that Tiffany was a National Merit Semi-Finalist I was a bit surprised. While clearly bright and competent, I had seen in Tiffany neither an exceptional skill for testing nor a particular affinity for the subject.
[/quote]
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. BTW the student did not get in.</p>
<p>Regarding Texas: it may be the fact that no letter of rec is required. Most schools admit/deny based solely on metrics -- no personal statement or rec letters needed.</p>
<p>You could make an appointment with your guidance counselor or, even better, college counselor if your school has one. They've been through this a million times and can answer all your questions personally and give you great feedback and ideas on your choices. My d made an appointment and went in with a typed list of schools she's applying to, what each application would need from the HS, a general idea of when/how she'd be applying (EA, online,etc), forms she printed for each college to go along with it, and a resume. Her GC was literally "blown away" by this and had lots more time to get into the nitty gritty details and suggest an additional school as well as explain LOR procedures. At her HS all teacher recs are given to guidance who reviews them and sends them out as one packet and bills the student in the spring for mailing costs. My D has had her professional LOR's sent directly to the guidance office as well. I don't know if the GC ever hands a rec back to the teacher for rewrite or advises the student to seek a new recommender but this does seem to be a small "safety net" for the student in knowing that everything from the school is going out on a timely basis in one envelope. Hope this gives you a few helpful ideas...Good Luck!</p>
<p>Last note - she also did basically the same for her teacher recs - wrote a personal letter, discussed their class and certain projects/units she did well and poorly on (honesty is a good thing, and this reminds them of the extra time she spent with them to grasp the material). She briefly discussed her future plans. Made a copy of her year end report for the year they had her, and included any special forms they'd need to complete (she filled out general info on them, of course). She gave them a date about 3 weeks out (since it's fairly early and they're not swamped with LOR requests yet) and asked that they let her know if that was not going to be possible for them to get everything to guidance by then.</p>
<p>so for common app now do teachers do it online or do i still need to have them mail it in? if i have to let them mail it in, what size envelops??</p>