<p>Parents, my teacher asked me today which would be a better phrase for the rec:</p>
<p>"Give the highest recommendation"</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>"I recommend XXX for admission"</p>
<p>What are your thoughts?</p>
<p>The first, by a very large margin, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s what I thought as well but the word “admission” stuck out…any more thoughts?</p>
<p>The first one…absolutely.</p>
<p>The general guideline for a rec letter is to use as many superlatives as possible, within the boundaries of the truth.</p>
<p>A couple of thoughts: The first is clearly the better choice.</p>
<p>I’m a bit surprised that a teacher would give the student a ‘choice’. Having said that, it’s probably not this one’s fault as teachers are given no training/feedback on how to write recs. Writing recommendation letters is a learned skill and guidance offices could do a better job by offering some suggestions for those teachers who are asked to write them. Very often, teachers–especially the young, inexperienced teachers–have written recs on a very limited basis. I’ve always believed the more seasoned teachers write the best letters.</p>
<p>laststopforme, If you want the word “admission” in there, what about suggesting, “I give XXX the highest recommendation for admission to Schoolname.”
Only possible problem–if the letter is not carefully re-edited for submission to different schools.</p>
<p>^ That’s a good plan. And yeah, I’m asking a brand-new teacher to my school who knows me well but has never done the whole rec-writing thing before. I will be sure to pass on the good advice - thanks!</p>