My S20 went to a non-pay selective summer camp program his last summer in HS. He put it on his list, mostly because it was related to his intended major.
Weāre in the same boat! S22 didnāt see a single teacherās face in person last year and when he finally asked his English teacher before school got out for a rec, the teacher said he had already maxed out for recs. His APUSH teacher said since they were remote all year, he wasnāt writing ANY recs! So my son either has to ask a teacher from sophomore year, or ask one of his upcoming teachers who wonāt really know him. (Heās planning on applying to a couple of schools Early Action which has a due date of Nov 1)
When is everyone applying? Is there a benefit of applying as soon as application opens?
Yeah, I just wasnāt sure because this isnāt selective, but it is a good camp I think and related to her intended major. I guess if we have room it will go on and if she wants to apply to Hollins we will for sure put it on.
D22 hasnāt asked anyone for LORs yet. I might ask her to reach out to her Theater/Civics/middle school state History/AP Psych teacher (since itās all the same guy) when she returns from camp. Benefit of a small school is all the teachers know her. She gets on well with him, but he is not the most timely on putting grades in so not sure how he will be about LOR. Might be good to give him a heads up before school starts.
She has a couple of English teachers and Creative Writing teachers she can ask too and a writing mentor outside of school that she will for sure ask (fairly well known published author).
How many LORs are your kids doing? She could ask the APUSH teacher too. He knows her pretty well.
She hasnāt created her Common App account yet, though. I did get her to look at my parental practice account very briefly. Hoping this week of camp will spark some interest in getting moving on college apps and stuff.
The most common requirement is 1 LOR from a teacher and 1 from your kidās counselor which is mostly business - transcript, school report, etc- not a character reference. Then some schools require 2 teacher recs.
deleteā¦ tried to fix the reply to and it didnāt work! LOL
@Sweetgum
Adding to @packacards postā¦ in our experience the schools requiring 2 LORs recommended asking one STEM and one non-STEM teacher.
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If it is something that the student did outside of school and there is room in the activities section, I would add it. My S included the hours of cello practice heās been doing during the pandemic.
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My S is applying to four colleges in early August. One of them is rolling admission and the others are all early action. He is applying early to hopefully get at least one acceptance before the start of September (from the rolling admissions school) and seeking some scholarships that have early deadlines.
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My S was remote for all of Junior year. His LOR writers are teachers (math, history, music) from sophomore year and have known him for 3+ years.
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My daughter would like to do the same but her teachers wonāt complete the LOR until the end of August or beginning of Sept. I donāt k ow if she should hold for those, or start the process. Do you have LOR yet?
Did that hold true even if your kid isnāt planning to major in a STEM field?
My D22 is fortunate, I guess, to have known her teachers for multiple years. She goes to a 6-12 charter (well it was 6-12 when she started, now expanding down) and many of her high school teachers also taught her middle school so they really do know her very well. She is not a STEM kid, though, and is very eager to never take another math class again. She would never ask a math teacher for a rec, but could ask a science teacher if she had to. Sheās much more English and History and Theater oriented, though.
He has no LOR yet but he has āyes, Iād love to write one for youā emails. He is only entering demographics in the Common App and will wait for the rollover to start entering his school-specific items.
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I am absolutely no expert and only have our experience to share from one admissions cycle. So take it for what it is. 
I suggest talking to your Dās GC/CC. I wanted to bring it up so you could be prepared in advance if asked for that.
My Dās CC explained it at an information session during junior year by saying AOs are looking for strength across the core classes. The session was presented to the entire class and parents so I could see recommendations being different for specific students in the individual CC consultations, particularly those applying to specialized programs (BFA, for example). My D is STEM (pre-health) and her CC did recommend one STEM and one non-STEM. She had an additional LOR from her Theatre and Community Service teacher/coordinator to use when a non-academic LOR was allowed since those activities were significant to her.
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My D19 knew she was not going to go into STEM so her primary teacher LOR was from one of her History teachers from junior year and she had her English teacher at the ready if she needed it (I donāt think she ended up needing it). My S22 will hopefully get either his senior English or History teachers, and then he plans to add a LOR from our cityās mayor because heās worked on the parks and rec board of the city council and (sadly) the mayor knows him better than his teachers. Weāre crossing our fingers that that might help. Though Iāve read in several places that adding extraneous LOCs is a bad look. But I just canāt imagine how great of a recommendation can come from a teacher whoās only known him for a month or two.
Yeah, she will definitely be getting a LOR from her writing mentor who is an award-winning author of books for kids and adults. I canāt see how that would look bad for someone who is interested in studying creative writing in college.
She just got her AP History score back and was disappointed. Taking AP Lit and AP Psych next year 
. Those will be her only APs unless she adds another class next year.
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With regards to LOR, I would say check the requirements of the schools your student is planning to apply to. Many state schools donāt require them at all. And as far as the privates go, it varies widely. I checked into the requirements for all the schools my D is considering and about half have a teacher evaluation as āoptionalā, and the other half require 1. The wording is generally specific as well, they arenāt asking for a letter of recommendation, they are asking for the Teacher Evaluation form from the Common App. What I am assuming is that, once youāve got all your schools selected and everything in CA, you request the form be sent to the teacher through there, they fill it out once and it gets sent everywhere you apply that requests it even as an option.
As far as teacher, she was online all last year, and it was awful for her, her learning, and her grades. I couldnāt even think of a single teacher from last year that I would want writing that eval. So we are either going back to sophomore year, or she is going to work hard to get to know one of this years teachers in the fall. That task made a bit easier because they start 8/12 so thereās a bit more time.
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I have been reviewing common application but it seems it was for last year 2021 candidates. What if i try to fill it out now, would it transfer info to the next application 2022? I have started Coalition app though. Also can money in my personal account affect my ability to get merit aid? We donāt qualify for any financial aid.
@CCagain Aug 1 is the rollover date for the Common App. You can start filling it out and my understanding is all the application info will rollover, however, nothing for any specific college will. So donāt bother to add any schools to your list or fill out any of their specific info until after Aug 1.
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Is it really important to show interest to the colleges one is interested in. I ask cuz while reviewing old posts, I see people mention about doing visits virtual or in person. Does it really matter and affect oneās chances of getting an admission?