<p>I think I probably worry too much, but I have some general questions. </p>
<ol>
<li>Under what circumstances is it okay to ask a (solely) sophomore-year teacher for a recommendation?</li>
<li>Is it inappropriate to try and contact a recently-retired teacher for a letter? I didn't ask her about it while she was still there, so I don't have contact information. Should I ask my guidance counselor about it?</li>
<li>I'm going to be a full-time dual enrollment student next year, and I won't be living near my high school even though I'm enrolled in it. Is it okay to just email teachers to ask for letters? When should I do this (I was thinking early September because my first application will be due at the end of October)?</li>
<li>Speaking of that...I'll have professors, but I probably won't have a chance to get to know them. Does a recommendation letter from a professor look better than one from a teacher?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>If all the following are true:</li>
</ol>
<p>a. The college permits LORs from soph teachers, check the college websites.
b. They will write you a very strong LOR.
c. It helps if they taught you in an advanced class (eg. AP).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s fine to ask, they still taught you. Ask your GC how to go about it.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, it’s OK. Just explain that you are asking via email because you don’t live close by. Ask as soon as school starts in the fall to give them ample time, also some teachers have a limit on the number students they will write LORs for.</p></li>
<li><p>No, the best LOR is based on what they say about you, not their position/title.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Specifically, my situation with the sophomore teacher is that I want to ask the teacher who taught me Algebra II, which I know isn’t very advanced, especially since I want to major in math and several of the courses at the university are beyond the level of Calculus BC. I wanted to ask this teacher primarily because:</p>
<p>a) I tested out of pre-calculus and the calculus class at my high school, and haven’t had a math teacher since sophomore year.</p>
<p>b) I was advanced beyond the level of the Algebra II class and was just taking it because I hadn’t realized testing out of classes was allowed, so this teacher lent me textbooks in calculus and intro number theory and gave me problems to do outside of class. I never asked for this stuff, so I assume they saw some kind of potential in me. To some extent this continued into junior year, and they’re probably the best person I know of to speak favorably about my math abilities.</p>
<p>But my junior year teachers probably know me better as a person, and I have another STEM teacher who has taught me in three classes.</p>
<p>Schools recommend a junior or senior teacher. </p>
<p>My D had a sophomore teacher who could write her an exceptionally strong recommendation. She used that one anyway and got into her top two choices.</p>
<p>Use a teacher that’s going to write a strong recommendation. If that math teacher is the one, then use it even if the colleges say they want junior or senior teachers. They really want strong recommendations.</p>
<p>Another question:</p>
<p>I’ve seen other people ask for LORs at my school, and a lot of times the teachers just ask for a copy of their resume and I guess they basically rewrite it in paragraph form as their recommendation.
How do I make sure the teachers understand I’m applying to selective schools where the letter isn’t just a formality (or is it?), and I want them to say specific things about how I acted in their class rather than just “hardworking” or something?</p>
<p>With the resume, include a reminder of some specific things that you did in their class along with what you really enjoyed about the class.</p>
<p>^^^^ i agree. you may want to ask your teachers even before school starts to give them plenty of time. I had a list of activities available, and one teacher also had me fill out a form. You may want to consider having 3 LOR for schools that allow it since one will be from a sophmore year teacher.</p>