<p>My math teacher and I get along really well. She's brilliant--near-PhD in math from columbia (accepted into harvard, but not with enough aid money). The thing is, she has trouble with english. Despite this, she's very enthusiastic and nice, and I'd love to have her rec, should I ask her?</p>
<p>One big concern is that it's so close to the stanford ea deadline (nov. 1st), that she may have wanted more time to polish the english in her rec. It's the optional rec, so I can reassure her that she needn't write a whole lot, but what do you guys think?</p>
<p>If she's able to give specifics about what makes you special, the recc would be worth it. I don't suggest that you tell her she needn't write a lot. The content-- particularly the specifics -- is what's important. </p>
<p>How bad can her written English be if she was accepted to Harvard and almost has a doctorate from Columbia? She may have more problems with speaking English than writing it, as is the case with many non native speakers.</p>
<p>Yep, I agree with Northstarmom. My dad is a professor and I think he'd be considered "foreign" (he's not American and his entire education up until grad school was in Asia). He doesn't speak completely-correct English, but he's a brilliant writer. I can't understand a word of his papers, but I can tell his grammar is correct. If your teacher is working on a dissertation, I'm sure her writing is fine.</p>
<p>Adcoms definitely wouldn't penalize you just because one of your teachers had less than desirable english. They only care about what the teacher said.</p>