@gibby I understand from the MIT blog that when one teachers rec provides nothing of importance (typical top student, does well in class) and the other teachers rec provide anecdotes (what he did, how he is amazing, what his work is like). They put more weight on the anecdote one and less weight on the generic one since they assume the generic one is just lazy or does not know student well enough. Is that true at all top uni? When one of the letters is good but provides no insight, they look at the better recommendation more. Since the student , is probably, a strong student with good personality or else the recs would mention it, it is just the case of a teacher being lazy or unfamiliar with a student.
Also, what happens in the case of OP, where one of the recs says something that reflects negatively on the OP. Do they still disregard the worse one , or take it in to account because those negative comments might be important to the school .
I really don’t think it is “bad”. The teacher is explaining that you love science so much, but you still managed to find time to pull it off in humanities as well. The “dip” he discusses, he’s trying to say you didnt just give up and say who cares Im doing science anyway.
I’m sorry that some of these posters have convinced you that Harvard is an impossibility for you. You still have as good a chance as any to get in! That teacher rec will hardly influence the admissions committee at all!
IF you get into Harvard it will be because of this letter … if not … well, it;s likely not the letter but it will be handy thing to blame (unless you count the 95% of people who don’t get in,80% probably just as qualified as you).
Without seeing the actual letters, and it is not even clear you have seen either one, I would think the teacher who actually wrote a description of you and your strengths and your ablility to overcome adversity or challenges or even a dip … is way more valuable than a boring rehash of your record …
for one, a teacher taking the time to write a really personal recommendation shows that the teacher really respects you as a student and is actually recommending that Harvard accept you.
Go prepare some reasonable match, safety and even some more reach applications and relax … you won’t know for quite a while … and it all works out in the end. Most people don’t go to Harvard and survive the disappointment, but if you are lucky … maybe you will get to go.