REC LETTER question

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>Okay, so basically, please tell me if my understanding is correct or not regarding rec letters.
Basically, I am a solid student-Im ranked 1 in my class-but strangely, most of my teachers just see me as a smart kid-none of them have particularily "loved me". I guess Im not the hardest worker, so that probably was a bad idea on my part. Anyways, for ivy league schools-lets say your SAT, GPA, EC's are good enough, how important are rec letters then?</p>

<p>In my case-Im asking my science teacher-who will write a generic letter that fairly solid and my History teacher who taught me for two years-who will write a good one and likes me a lot, but probably is a lazy guy so wont put as much effort into it. For a 3rd4th letter Im asking my research professor and debate coach-both who really really like me a lot. In this case, is it true that a amazing, incredible "best student ever" rec letter could help a lot, but most people applying to ivies will get the average-good letter-so it doesnt help/hurt you?</p>

<p>ha, i pretty much rambled on this post.... but thanks anyways!</p>

2

<p>This somewhat depends on the HS you attend. If you are at a school from which few students ever apply to ivies then glowing recs are very important to put you in context. </p>

<p>Recommendations that go beyond generalizations and describe your particular qualities or particular efforts in the classroom will be received much better. Perhaps you could remind your teachers of times when you went above and beyond when you ask them to recommend you?</p>

<p>Teachers at schools where a lot of folks apply to ivies are familiar with the appropriate recommendation format for ivies so a lot of those letters are quite strong. If you don’t have that sort of recommendation and you come from a school without a lot of ivy school candidates, that could be a negative factor.</p>