I’ve been very worried about letters of rec lately. I didn’t really think about it until I realized that I have no good options.
I’m a student with high grades, in the top 10th percentile of my class at a fairly good school. I’m not exactly the most active participant in class. I’m really shy. I come to class, get my work done, and leave. I have really good extracurricular activities thanks to being able to network, but my relationship with my teachers is lacking. Since I want to go into the field of science, I realized I am supposed to ask a math or science teacher from my upperclassman years. I don’t yet know one of my senior year teachers well and another teacher is the same I had last year.
The teacher I had last year probably knows I failed my ap exam. Although I tried my hardest and did my best in the class, I messed up and I wasn’t having the best exam day. I also have a good explanation of why I didn’t perform well, relating to chronic illness, but I’m afraid the teacher won’t understand. This teacher also has a policy that his recommendation will totally confidential, as opposed to other teachers at my school who will deny a student rather than write a bad one.
My other choice is a teacher who was asleep 75% of the time in class and didn’t teach at all.
All of my math and science teachers from my underclassmen years and my language/humanities teachers are very understanding, but I can’t exactly use those.
I don’t know what to do. All I know is that I’m definitely not getting into my dream schools. I messed up.
If you have a good math/science from 10th grade and a good humanities from 11 or 12, go with those. If a school accepts supplemental recs, think about if you can get one from someone involved with your ECs.
Unless you are applying into a specific science program, most undergrad programs expect a large number of students to change their major, so if you don’t have a good science teacher to write recs, it’s not really a problem.
On the other hand, your current year teacher is a good chance for you to start interacting with teachers- something you will want to be able to do in college.
Those are both valid ways for you to dodge the real question, which is that you are afraid that your teacher will write you a bad rec b/c you didn’t do well on the AP exam itself*. Imo, you will do yourself a big maturity favor by picking yourself up by the scruff of the neck, marching yourself into that teacher and asking straight out “I really enjoyed your class last year, and think my classroom grades show how hard I worked and how much I valued your class. I was really disappointed in my AP results- it was a bad exam day for me- and I don’t think it reflects how much I learned. I was wondering if you feel you could write a strong recommendation for me for college applications.”
The worst that happens? teacher says ‘I don’t really think I am the best person to do that’, and you go with plan A or B above. Best thing? teacher responds to a student showing maturity and interest in their subject with a ‘yes, I was surprised that the AP didn’t go well for you, given how well you did in the class [possible conversation about how the class did overall / how s/he might help this year’s students prepare better]. Of course, I would be happy to write the rec for you’.
*…and please, everybody has a “good explanation” for why they tanked on a test- don’t go down that road. You had a bad day. Leave it at that. If your ‘chronic illness’ was the major issue you would have either known that going in (ie, you don’t have the stamina for a 2 hour exam) and/or you would have had the same issue(s) with all the other testing you have done.
My S was a very quiet HS student and had no issues getting LORs. Teachers understand that some kids are quiet. They did recognize that my S was a hard-worker, diligent student etc. even though he didn’t participate a ton. All LORs are confidential (unless the teacher decided to show them to the student which in my experience is rare). A good way to ask a teacher is to see if he/she “would be willing to write a positive letter of recommendation” for you. It is also OK to use one 10th grade teacher if you think he/she knows you best.
in my kids’ hschool this issue has been brought up by parents in a few meetings about college planning. The counsellor has assured the parents that they ( counsellor) are able to see the recs before they are sent, and if the recs are not positive, they either reach out to the teacher or the student to find another teacher ( without disclosing the contents) as the counsellors have made it clear they are there to act as an advocate for the students. If I were you, I would reach out to your school counsellor and let her know about your concerns – she may be able to help you better and possibly even reach out to the teachers you feel may not know you well. As for the AP , I wouldnt worry about it. My D had in fact failed an AP , and got an rec from that very teacher— she got into several reaches ( and is now a freshman at her dream school that is a lottery school) .