Recommendation confusion

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I'm trying to decide from which people I should get my recommendations. So far, I have definitely decided on my dean, but I am unsure as to which professors I should ask. I have done my best work in an English class, but I am applying as a creative writing major. The teachers at my current school (one of two in a consortium) are notorious for docking points for absences, and I spent a good deal of my first year of college either fighting my own illness or taking care of my post-operative mother. If I am not lotteried out, I should be able to take a creative writing class at my current school this fall. No creative writing classes are offered at the other school, but they are much more lenient about absences. The reason why I did better in an English class rather than creative writing was that the English class I took was at the other school and my teacher did not dock me for any of my absences. With this problem in mind, should I skip the English teacher and solely go for two creative writing recommendations or do I go for one from English and one from Creative Writing?</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>Where are you trying to transfer? Meaning, how competitive is this school for transfers? Chances are, short of the HYPS schools, as long as the letters say basic glow-y nice-y things about you, the school won’t care. It isn’t as if you are deciding between a polit sci professor who you did research with vs. an english professor and you are trying to transfer <em>as</em> a polit sci major. Then the answer is a no brainer. </p>

<p>Pick the professor who knows you well and can say great things about you. If it is the English professor, then go with that. A good writer is a good writer, so don’t fuss over the creative writing aspect. The only reason I’d suggest the creative writing professor is if in spite of your absences, the professor is guaranteed to write you are the next great American author. I am guessing this is not the case so go with the regular English professor.</p>

<p>The recommendation letters are a way to see what kind of “character” you have (both as a person as well as what you add to the classroom environment) that can’t be gleaned from your GPA.</p>