<p>I am an international student studying the IB curriculum. I noticed that some universities require two recommendations from teachers in "academic subjects." I currently have a recommendation from my english teacher and my visual arts teacher. Would the one from the arts teacher be a problem? </p>
<p>I believe visual arts HL is considered to be an "academic" subject in the IB, involving both studio work and art history. The admissions counsellor at Connecticut College told me that they would accept the recommendation as they look at IB differently. Is this the case with most universities? Would having a recommendation from my arts teacher count against me, if it is a teacher who knows me very well, who I have done research with?</p>
<p>I mention this because at our school it is too late to request any additional recommendations, since many teachers already have dozens to write. I’m hoping for the best.</p>
<p>Haha, I’m kind of in the same boat as you; I’m planning on applying to several engineering schools, and asked a Science Research teacher whose known me for three years and a band teacher whose known me for four years. I don’t think it looks too bad for most of my colleges except Vandy, which REQUIRES two academic core recommendations</p>
<p>I disagree with your counselor’s advice @ccvb1013. Only very few colleges request two rec letters. Invariably they ask for LORs from teachers of core academic subjects. Your IB Art instructor falls outside of this def’n. That LOR should be submitted as a third, supplemental LOR. Your first 2 LORs should be in line with what colleges ask. It would be unwise to deviate from that request, IMHO.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d still approach another teacher, unofficially. Since your school’s deadline has passed. See what happens. Good luck</p>
<p>@t26e4 If I really can’t find another recommender, how significant of an impact will this have on my application, if other parts of it are strong and I have another good recommendation from an academic subject and a counsellor rec? What should I do?</p>
<p>I remember being shocked when some colleges where my son was applying as an Acting BFA student insisted on Academic subject teacher recommendations, and would not accept his IB Theater Arts teacher (also his director in school plays, with whom he studied for four years) as a substitute. </p>
<p>Just to update this thread… I’ve emailed many of the colleges on my list specifically about this question, and 8/10 of their responses have been that a HL Visual Art recommendation is “perfectly fine” because “the course it taught in a rigorous fashion.” So my advice is to email each of the admissions office directly if you’ve had a similar situation.</p>