<p>When a teacher fills out the Evaluation Form for college Apps, can they just copy the completed form over and over for all of the colleges the student will be applying to or do they need to physically fill out each one individually with pen? My son will be applying this fall to 7-10 colleges/universities and wondered how this process works and if colleges/universities have a preference? Thank you.</p>
<p>May I add that the colleges he is interested in all use the common application.</p>
<p>I'm looking at the teacher eval form on the Yale Common App right now. It says
"A photocopy of this reference form, or another reference you may have prepared on behalf of this student, is acceptable."</p>
<p>Sounds like the teacher can use the same recommendation for all common app schools. Somebody who has done it can probably confirm that.</p>
<p>At my kids' school, the teachers submit one recommendation to the GC and it is copied for each college. Experienced rec writers know to not put a college's name in the rec, and to concentrate on talking about the student. Seemed to work just fine for us.</p>
<p>Some of the colleges I will be applying to do not accept the common application so would it be considered tacky for me to ask a teacher to write me multiple recommendations at once?</p>
<p>Cangel - thanks for that bit of insight; "do not put the colleges name in the recommendation". </p>
<p>YoMama - thx, sounds like the teacher can fill it out once and photocopy it. I did end up looking more closely at the eval. sheet that came with son's Colgate Applic. and it says exactly that (my mistake).</p>
<p>Natokt - my first son yrs. ago asked a teacher for several recs. at once by giving him a copy of his resume, his transcripts, his list of colleges he was applying to and the teacher wrote a letter for each one on school letterhead paper. He did not use the common app for any b/c it was not used often then. My son also included a stamped envelope to the college's admissions office if the teacher felt he wanted to send it off directly.</p>
<p>There are two separate things: 1. the actual recommendation the teacher writes, (which is copied over and over --just be sure the one that gets copied for all school doesn't mention a school's name in particular,-- eg. if the student applies EA/ED, a teacher might specifically name that school in that 1st rec), and 2. the teacher recommendation form. If it's the common ap form, that, too, gets copied over and over again. But many schools have their own form with particular check- lists on it, and then the teachers have to do those individually.</p>
<p>Donemom - thx for the info. I have one more ques. regarding this issue. If there is no mention of additional recommendations in the instructions for the applic., would it be wrong to submit some extra ones from personal friends of the family if you felt they may help in the admissions process or should my son email the adcom first to see if this is acceptable?</p>
<p>Generally, one should only submit an extra recommendation if it would shed some light on an aspect of the student that the required teacher and guidance counselor recs wouldn't be able to address. And such an extra one is not usually a friend of the family...more typically, someone who has an official capacity heading an extra-curricular activity that the student is involved in. (eg. a coach, teacher who advises a club or organization, or in my son's case, his research mentor).</p>
<p>My son's teachers wrote their letters on school stationery and printed one for each college. They did not use the colleges application form or the common application form. </p>
<p>Someone on this forum (sorry I forgot who) mentioned that at schools where kids routinely apply to superselectives teachers do not check those little boxes that judge the student, "best ever taught" etc. This poster said that with these highly competitive colleges, anything less than superlative is viewed as a negative so it's best not to include at all. I thought this was good advice and wonder if anyone else has come to the same conclusion.</p>
<p>As far as additional non-academic recommendations go, I think they can be very helpful if they relate to the applicant's hook or talent. For example, my son included a recommendation from his art teacher with his art portfolio. Because this was a technical opinion that would be evaluated by the art department I think it would have been valuable additional information.</p>
<p>He also included a recommendation from his Scout leader. He couldn't resist tossing this in because the Scout leader was a PhD and instructor at prestigious college, but, frankly, I don't think these kind of recommendations count for much.</p>
<p>My son asked the Headmistress to write a recommendation for him because she had known him since he was 5 and could elaborate on his character, activities etc. This was sent along with the two teacher recommendations and GC rec in a package the GC put together. The music recommendations went directly to the Schools of Music and not to admissions. I can't help but think that the letter from the Head was a good thing to have asked for.</p>
<p>Momrath - very interesting piece of info regarding the "little boxes". I would never have thought.
Overseas and Donemom - thank you too! One individual who is the head of a medical school out west is my husband's best friend and son's Godfather who has known him since birth and has always thought highly of him. Son may ask him to write a friendly letter regarding son's character and strengths as a person.
You have all been so helpful.......</p>
<p>You should ask the teaher if he or she actually fills in the common app rec form or simply attaches her letter to it. If she attaches the letter, it's a thoughtful gesture to supply her with multiple coies of the rec form, with all the relevant student information filled in. That way the teacher doesn't have to spend time making copies that the student could--and should--do himself.</p>
<p>I write 10-15 recs a year. In the case of the common app, a student provides me one rec form with the top portion completed with their personal information. The school's name is not stated on the form. For each college to receive a rec, my students provide me with pre-printed labels and stamps (so I can use school envelopes) or an addressed/stamped envelope. I complete the portion with the checked boxes and answer the short questions such as "What words first come to mind when describing this student?" and "How long and in what capacity do you know this student?". Prior to signing, I make photocopies of my original. I sign each photocopy (in blue) and include the copied form with my letter of recommendation on school letterhead. I never write a recommendation on the common application form itself. I also sign across the sealed envelope flap for security purposes. For schools that do not use the common app, I also complete the checked box section and short answer section for each one and then include my letter. Since more and more schools are using the common app, it's made my life easier to complete the front part of the form just once. I do have a few students each year who prefer to use the school's application forms as they think that shows increased interest.</p>
<p>spoonyj: I prefer the kids just give me one form with the multiple envelopes. I provide the short answer info, along with my title, school name, etc. on the one form, then make copies to go with my letter. If the kids give me several copied forms, they are not saving me any time by asking me to complete each one individually. I complete and copy my original and return the unneeded extras to them.</p>
<p>Maize&Blue,</p>
<p>I can see your point. I prefer the students to make photocopies of the common app form because I don't fill in any information at all. I let the school stationery take care of much of the work (school name, adrdress, title, etc.) and I never fill in any bubbles or short answers (out of fear that these provide an easy shortcut for adcoms, a quick way to dismiss a student whose boxes are not, as the adcom lingo goes, marked "to the wall").</p>
<p>spoonyj: I suppose those character and academic check boxes could be an easy shortcut for an overworked adcom. I keep the descriptions short and sweet, and the boxes true to the student (How many best evers can one have?). When my second (and last) child went through the visiting process over the past few years, I started asking questions of the admissions reps and officers that pertained to how I wrote my recs (I wanted to get something out of the visits that I could use too!) ;) The gist of the answers, mainly from LAC's and smaller private unis, was that the vast majority of recs had the "best in my career" or "top 10%" boxes checked, and those one-word descriptions were predictable. For the most part, they admitted valuing those check boxes and short answers only if discrepencies existed between GC and other teachers' forms for the same student.</p>
<p>Which is more important, the GC rec or teacher rec?
I don't really see why GC's should even write recs, because, at least at my school, all you do with the GC is talk to them about which SAT II's to take and when, sometimes class selection and ECs, and picking colleges. How would a GC know enough about you to make a difference?</p>
<p>Are teachers expected to write about the ECs of the student? I thought the whole point of recs is to shed further light on the academics of the student.</p>
<p>Is this the general procedure for teacher recs: Ask teacher to write rec. Hand him common app. He fills it out on the common app paper, makes photocopies, then gives to guidance counselor, who sends out your transcript and recs to colleges while you send the rest of your app.</p>
<p>The common app makes it easy for GCs and teachers since the forms are filled out once and can be copied and used for multiple schools.</p>
<p>Teachers and GCs filling out the individual recommendations for the schools which don't use the common app can use different strategies. They can fill out every question on the form or can choose to send in their own form and recommendation. </p>
<p>The GC at our local high school fills out her own rubric and attaches a transcript and recommendation. </p>
<p>She figures that her recommendations cover the kinds of questions that most colleges want answers to. And colleges understand--they basically want certain info from your GCs and teachers--whether they get it in their own form and in another form doesn't matter. They realize that certain teachers get swamped with recommendation requests and understand if their own form doesn't get filled out to the T.</p>
<p>At my S's school they had what they called a "brag sheet" that they provided each teacher asked to write a recommendation. This contained an overview of accomplishments and other relevant information, such as what the college was looking for in a recommendation. S focused on what his top choice was looking for, and let that suffice for the rec's to the other schools.</p>
<p>Thank you all...as I understand it now, it seems that it is typically better to have a teacher write/type a letter of recommendation and include that along with the Common app. evaluation form with the top and possibly the short answers filled out. How do you feel about a teacher that chooses to write long hand in the narrative section of the Common app. eval. form and requests the GC to just copy the form for all colleges? Is this looked upon less favorably? I guess I feel my son may be asking too much of a teacher to write/type an individual letter of recommendation on school letterhead. Should it be up to the teacher or should it be suggested by my son? Any thoughts would be most appreciated.</p>