<p>I was in a US school for freshman, sophomore years.</p>
<p>I moved to another country and did junior year there. I am going to do senior year there. I'm back in the US and I am visiting my old school. Should I ask my freshman (or sophomore) teachers for recommendations while I am there or should I just get them from the new school.</p>
<p>The issue some others had in getting recommendations in my new shcoool is that the teachers are likely writing their first recommendation letters.</p>
<p>So, I was told that the recomendation letter would pretty much look like:
____ is a good student.____ is an intelligent student. ____ is well behaved and is strong academically. Hence,I recommend this studentto ____ University.</p>
<p>I was worried that such a letter doesn't tell colleges much so I would be better getting a letter from a lower grade- 9 or 10- and who can give more insight than ateacher from junior year.</p>
<p>Do I have the right approach or not? Suggestions are welcome</p>
<p>Although it is recommended that you receive letters from your junior/senior year teachers, I do not see any harm in a letter from a freshman teacher. If anything, it shows that you have the ability to maintain close relationships with your teachers. As long as you have enough visiting time to allow your old teachers to write the letters at their convenience, I don't see the harm.</p>
<p>It could hurt you to use freshman teachers. Call your colleges beforehand and ask. I remember hearing many adcoms stating in the info sessions to only use 11th and 12th grade teachers. My kids didn't want to use 12th grade teachers because the year was just beginning and in our HS, few teachers have students in more than one course.</p>
<p>According to Yale's website:
"Who should write my teacher recommendations?</p>
<p>It is important that your recommenders be teachers who can write about your recent academic work in rigorous academic subjects. We strongly encourage students to ask 11th and 12th grade teachers to write for them. Given Yale's extremely competitive applicant pool, it is probably a mistake to ask a favorite ninth-grade teacher to write, or to seek out a coach or chorus director as a recommender unless he or she has also taught you recently in an academic course.</p>
<p>Yale does not specify that the recommendations come from teachers of particular subjects. It is a good idea, however, to have the two letters come from teachers of different subjects. Choose teachers who know you well and who can give us a sense of both your academic and personal strengths."</p>
<p>Colgate was one of the few schools my son looked at that said 10th grade teacher recs were ok, although in the info session the rep stressed that recs from more recent teachers were more relevant. </p>
<p>According to Colgate's website:</p>
<p>"Letters of Recommendation
These letters are intended to speak to a student's demonstrated academic skills, achievements, contributions and potential - qualities we may not see elsewhere in the application. Colgate requires three, subjective letters of recommendation: one from the school guidance or college counselor and two from faculty who have taught the applicant in different major academic courses (English, social studies, foreign or classical languages, physical or biological sciences, or mathematics) in the sophomore, junior, or senior years. "</p>
<p>While I would generally agree with the advice to get a recent teacher, this seems like a pretty unusual circumstance where the letter from a current teacher would not go very far in helping the college learn anything meaningful about the student. I guess calling college you're interested in would be the way to go.</p>
<p>Well, it seems the OP has the option of asking a soph. teacher for a recommendation.</p>