<p>What should I ask my teachers to include about me? Any general guidelines would be appreciated. Note that I'm an international student and my teachers aren't used to writing recs, at least for the purpose of college admissions.</p>
<p>And my computer science teacher knows me well but isn't so great with the English... the adcoms will look beyond that, won't they??</p>
<p>The adcoms will look beyond the broken English. They would like specific details about you rather than generalization. For example, instead of a letter saying Astrix was an excellent student, hard-working, conscientious, and so forth, it would be better to have an anecdote showing the traits that your teacher wants to highlight: "" in a project on.... Astrix.... did...., showing great imagination and resourcefulness... Astrix was unstinting in helping others with their projects as well..."
The general motto is "show, don't just tell." You may give your teachers some guidance by reminding them of specific anecdotes that could be used in the recommendation letters.</p>
<p>One of the teachers D asked for a recommendation gave her back a list of questions D should answer, so as to help the teacher write the rec. The questions included: Choose three adjectives to describe yourself as a student in my class. Explain your answer and provide anecdotes to support your choices.
How would you describe your role in the class and in your small groups? How do you think your classmates perceived of you as a student? Were you a leader? A helper? An active participant? What, if anything, made you "stand out" as a student in the class?Thinking back to your performance in my class, how did you grow or change as a student over the year that you have been studying this subject?</p>
<p>astrix, Do you know a teacher who might be an Amer-ophile, a fan of all things American? (Numbers are dwindling, I know). You might enlist them in this particular 'American' exercise.</p>
<p>It is hard to get recommendation letters in the American tradition of 'soft sell'. The rest of the world doesn't do 'soft sell' on student potential.</p>
<p>My advice: Get twice the number needed, don't waive confidentiality and if you get the letter and it's not suitable, toss it.</p>
<p>Don't worry if they are not perfect. I think the adcoms of well-known schools get it. Last year, my S's main rec letter said, "I don't expect him to do well on his Bursary Exam". That was it. One sentence. Speculating! </p>
<p>(S got an 'A').</p>
<p>Nevermind, he got into two of four schools and is very happy.</p>
<p>Check out Expat Games Thread....good int'l info....</p>
<p>Cheers-</p>
<p>How did you find out about that line in the rec? Did you not waive your right to see the rec first?</p>
<p>Did not waive. Actually didn't bother looking until months later when discovered an extra one in file. </p>
<p>Nevermind, my theory is that something will go wrong with at least one app. Impossible to hit perfection.</p>
<p>Umm, I read around here that not waiving your right is tantamount to making the rec worthless??</p>
<p>Cheers, my Eng teacher is just the type! (amer-ophile :p) I was getting a rec from her anyway.</p>
<p>BUMP</p>
<p>Is it really okay to waive the right??</p>