Recommendation letter question

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

Hello,

     My son is junior in high school. Next Fall he would like to apply in early action in colleges. I was wondering should he start asking his teacher now to write him recommendation. How does it work. Schools that are accepting common application they will take it online so should he tell his teachers right now that in next fall he will write their email addresses in common application and then they can send the recommendation letter online. For college that don't have common application requirement should he give his teachers an envelope too and ask them about the recommendation so they can seal that in an envelope and when should he ask them?  I would appreciate any reply. Thanks.

Amber

2

You can ask before junior year ends, or the very start of senior year. It really depends on the teacher; some teachers may forget over summer break, some don’t want to write letters over summer break, etc. I asked my teachers during the first week of school and got them uploaded and ready to go in 2 weeks. And with regards to your second question, yes, he should give his teachers an envelope already addressed to the school it is intended for.

3

Generally advice is to ask at the start of senior year. Ideally within the first few weeks so he can beat the rush of kids a few months in who ask. Asking in junior year is a bit pre-mature although maybe other posters have different expectations by school. Keep in mind that if he asks later the teachers will have known him more and can write more personalized recs about him.

Also,

This isn’t the right way to go about recs. He should ask if they would be willing to write him a recommendation but they’re under no obligation to write one so telling them is the wrong way to do it (especially if he wants very positive ones!). Politely asking and later following up and checking in is usually the better way to go.

For colleges that require physical letters (some that don’t use the common app still have an online portal) he should provide envelopes pre-addressed and stamped for those teachers.

4

Thanks for your reply. I would definitely tell him to follow this. Thanks.