I remember being in your position last year and completely confused so I’ll try to alleviate some stress for you
I’d recommend asking them sometime in mid-March to early-April. A little later is okay, but you definitely want to ask them junior year.
Really depends on the teacher, but a general approach is to just stay a minute after everyone leaves class and/or go to a teacher on their free time. Say something along the lines of, “I’ve really enjoyed your class so far this year and I would be honored if you could write me a recommendation for next year.” What they want, material wise, will depend on the teacher. I asked three teachers. One gave me two sheets to fill out and asked for a resume, one gave me one sheet to fill out, and one said I don’t need to give anything. Just play it by year.
Envelopes? The majority of schools receive recommendations electronically, through the common app or their specific application. If you are applying to a school that does not do this, give the envelope next year. In the beginning of senior year, you should touch base with the teacher, ask how their summer was, and give a little reminder about your recommendation, possibly stating a deadline if you are applying early. If your school uses Naviance, you will invite them through that (your GC will explain all this to you)
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4. Only two of the school's I'm applying to use common app, so how do recommendations work for that?
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Depends on the school. They may have it emailed. They may have it uploaded. They may have it mailed. You can look at the school’s website to see and/or speak to your GC.
Your teachers have done this 1000 times. Don’t worry too much
Interesting with the 4/6, I didn’t think that many did that. Still, give them the envelope next year.
Some teachers put caps on the amount of recs they will write - teachers don’t get paid to write recs, they are giving up their own time, and some spend a lot of time doing it. So a teacher may only write 10 a year. Asking early guarantees you a spot on the 10.
What if they say no? It’s best that you know for sure that they will write you a rec
Some teachers have limits on how many students they will write a rec for. You don't know how many classmates will ask for a rec from their teachers, and you don't know how early they'll ask.
What if they're planning on leaving the school / retiring? This happens much more often than one would think, - believe it or not. One teacher that I was about to ask for a rec told us on the last day of class that he would be leaving our school.
This is an anecdote - one of my friends refused to ask any teacher for a rec until mid-October, and the app was due in November. She had a list of 3 teachers who she was planning on asking, and it turns out, ALL three of the teachers had left the school the year before - she didn’t know that. So she had no choice but to ask a senior year teacher who she only had for 2 months - and no offense to her, but I’m pretty sure she REALLY inconvenienced this teacher (it was also her first year teaching at our school) by only giving her two weeks to deal with this whole thing.
However, I had another friend who asked one of her teachers (who was retiring that year) for a rec during May of junior year, and that teacher was able to complete it and provide contact info in case there was a problem with the rec.
Out of courtesy for your own teacher. It's best to provide them enough time - consider that they will definitely be very busy throughout the year. I asked two teachers for recs after AP testing was over with, but one didn't submit until a few days before the deadline - but he was busy, especially considering that he had other recs to write, taught several AP/honors courses, was a sports coach, etc.
I’m not sure what exactly you were thinking on doing when you say “ask in the fall” - do you mean ask in early Sept. 2015 for a school with a Jan 2016 deadline (this is okay)? Or Oct 2015 for a Nov 2015 deadline (NOT okay)?
So, asking a teacher during junior year is in your best interest, as well as theirs. I know that some people asked in March/April from my school, but I waited until after AP testing was over with (mid-May). Good luck!
You should ask your teachers in the spring. Like around March or April would be good. If you wait till senior year there are "issues" that @miopyon13 beautifully lists. So get it done soon so you all have plenty of time. Teachers are busy people so the earlier they know, the better. They might need some prodding later on, but it's better to prod because you asked in April than because you asked in October. They will know when to send it, so don't worry about having to guide them or anything like that.
Ideally, you should ask to speak with them after class. As everyone leaves, pull them aside and ask then. Every teacher is different. I had asked my recommenders over the phone/in person but I emailed them a general thing about my goals, types of things I'm involved with that etc. Some teachers, depending on the subject and your goals, may want to see supplemental materials (essays, short stories etc.) One of my recommenders not only offered to look over my essays and give me some critique on them but also the recommender asked to see some short stories of mine.
Other teachers may be too busy to be bothered with extra materials. As long as they have a general idea of who you are and what you want to do, there shouldn’t be an issue.
It's a little premature to give them the envelopes now since they definitely will not be sending them over the summer. You can probably do it in the fall when you remind them about it. Definitely when you initially talk to them and request their recommendation, explain that you're only applying to two Common App schools and the rest of the schools will want the materials in the mail. Talk to them and see what they're most comfortable with. You have to invite them on the Common App but they might feel more comfortable with sending ALL their recommendations through the mail. Teachers are allowed to do that.
For Common App, you invite the teachers by putting their email in. Once they are "invited", your Common App is able to be submitted electronically with or without the recommendation actually complete. That's why teachers are allowed to send it snail mail down the road. If the teachers DO CHOOSE to submit the recommendation via the CA, they just get an email that leads to a Teacher Evaluation page and they fill out/upload everything then and there. When it's complete, it will show "Completed: MM/DD/YY"
Thank you so so much! That really is very helpful! I was actually thinking of waiting until may/june though…I would be asking my Spanish teacher, and I already know from my counselor that she doesn’t get asked too often.
Depending on the schools you apply to, you might need a second teacher. I don’t know what you want to major in but you should have the second teacher be in a related core subject (English, math, science etc.)
Something else I would recommend you research before asking for recommendations would be the scholarships to which you will be applying. It would be helpful if you could tell the person what schools and what scholarships you are applying for. My son applied for a lot of different scholarships and them needed to go back to a few people to ask for another letter. It would have been better if he gave them a list from the get go.
