please helppp I am a little conflicted on who to ask for my rec letters, and heres the whole story.
I will be applying to most of the UC schools and some private Ivy’s + Stanford
My first rec letter is from my 10th grade APUSH teacher who I have again this year (12th grade) for American Government. Ive already asked this teacher and he’s really excited to write my letter. he’s written me past letters and constantly mentions how I am one of his top students ever.
My second letter is what I am more confused about. I was originally going to ask my junior year AP Bio teacher because I am majoring in Neuroscience/cognitive science or a related field. However, theres a lot of people asking him in my grade, and he has been teaching for over 30 years, meaning that I dont really stand out. I mean im a good student who does everything on time, and even though he would mention how I did research at stanford over the summer, im not sure if it would “cut it” for the top schools as I would be portrayed as a pretty good student, not an extraordinary one.
The other option I have for this letter is my 11th grade Spanish teacher. This one would be taking a huge risk I know because I wouldn’t have a STEM letter of rec, and even though none of my colleges require a stem letter, Im not sure if its imperative that I include one since I am applying for a stem major (bio/neuro related stuff). I mean I am submitting sat 2 scores in bio and math but they are not that strong, a 760 and 770 respectively. However, asking spanish teachers is pretty rare at my school, and she’s written me a summer rec where she talked about my energy in class and how I bring a good vibe (I am definitely one of the top spanish students, and im not a native speaker either). I have also started a nonprofit where I taught foreign languages like Spanish, French, and Hindi to hundreds of students in my area. At my school, I am also taking French, so as a language teacher she could also speak to that “dedication” if you will. I think she would provide a more strong and unique rec letter, and would dedicate more time and energy to it as well which is why I prefer asking her.
HOWEVER, would that concentrate my app on the humanities side? would it look bad that I am applying to stem and submitting two humanities recs? I mean I already have my humanities nonprofit and I also do dance. on the stem side, I will submit subject test scores and I did research at Stanford university…in addition I jump rope and am the top 10 in the world if that makes a difference
so should I go with my AP Bio teacher or Spanish one?? please help