<p>hi im currently a junior that is wrapping up the year. i am in a dilemma on how to choose which teachers to get recommendation letters from. I have strongly decided to get one from my AP Physics teacher, which is a class that i got around a 97 in and developed a great relationship with the teacher.</p>
<p>However the second recommendation letter is between my AP Calculus BC teacher, or my AP English language and composition teacher.</p>
<p>AP Calc BC: I did great in that class as i was consistently at the top. My grade is a 97 and the teacher recognizes my abilities. I also was associated with my teacher in math team, which i did ok in, but not great. Also in class i would be an active participator and usually answer open ended questions he poses that few others can get. So basically my intelligence in math is distinguished with this teacher. However, he's a pretty shy guy, so i never really got to know him that well during the year. i also would be slightly late to class a lot b/c it was first period. and i did not put much effort b/c i did not need to. So his personal relationship with me as a student is not great other than recognizing my distinct intelligence in math</p>
<p>AP english lang teacher: I am not very adept at english, however i do put a lot of effort. My grade in the class is not terrible, as it is a 92, b/c i am better at writing. My teacher is a very social person who really got to know me very well this year. i would go to extra help a lot, talk to her, ask her how to improve, what to change, and etc. Thus, my effort was clearly shown. I also improved tremendously during the year, and my teacher saw that. She really liked my effort although i was not near the top half of the class. So my intelligence and ability is very mediocre, but effort is great. This is along with other bad profiles of english abilities such as my 630 in SAT CR. but 700 in writing</p>
<p>So, 97>92
effort>intelligence?
who do i pick as a second????
keep in mind the first letter from my physics teacher is already going to talk about my intelligence in physics which is math-related and also has effort. </p>
<p>I am looking to apply to mostly the top schools</p>
<p>Well, since Physics is pretty math-based, then I would go more towards AP English. That way the adcoms will learn about two different sides of you as an individual. Plus, colleges want to know you as a person, which it seems like your AP English teacher knows more about. They will know your “intelligence in math” just by your grades in your math classes and on the SAT, presumably.</p>
<p>I say go with the English teacher. Recommendations aren’t worth much unless they’re absolutely spectacular anyway. IMO it’s more important to not come off like you’re hiding your experiences in the humanities.</p>
<p>It depends a little on which top schools, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>At a school like MIT or Caltech, “he works very hard” in a recommendation can be a death sentence. Why? Because the kids who had to work very hard in high school to get good grades are not likely to be the kids who do really well at MIT. They’re looking for brilliance: the kind of kid who can sleep through half the classes and get an A.</p>
<p>(Which isn’t to say that it’s a good idea to get a rec from a teacher whose classes you slept through, if only because teachers tend not to like that. Although that’s kind of what I did, and it turned out all right…)</p>
<p>It is very important to ask a prospective evaluator whether they can write a positive letter for you. This is always appropriate, phrased politely of course. EVERY student should do this when asking for letters of rec. For example, “Am I a student you would write a strong letter of reccomendation for, or do you suggest I ask someone else?” Don’t argue or question why if the answer is ask someone else, simply to thank the teacher for their honest answer. Since there is a reason both of the teachers you mentioned may not be willing to write a strong letter for you, this advice is especially pertinent.</p>
<p>While it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher, it HAS to be done. I know someone who was on the alumni scholarship committee for a well-known U and they regularly received letters of “rec” for the full-tuition scholarship that raked the kid over the coals. In the book “The Gatekeepers” in which a reporter for the NY Times followed the admissions committee at Wesleyan (a top LAC) for a year is a real-world example of a bad rec.
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with mikemac. Be aware that for the common app, you get recs from however many teachers, and assign the teachers specifically to each school. So you could have physics/math at one school, and physics/English at another. But in general, I vote for the English teacher because a) she loves you and can write a rec about YOU and b) many of the top schools want both a math/science teacher and an English/humanities teacher. </p>
<p>wait! huh? I just read your post again, and see that you had a 92% and were not near the top HALF of your class? So THAT’S what they mean by grade inflation! :eek:</p>