Hi,
I emailed my arts teacher at the end of September asking for a recommendation. When he emailed back 2 weeks later it was apparent he didn’t know what I meant by “college recommendation” (he thought I was asking for recommendations on what colleges to go to). I explained what I meant and he said he’d be happy to write one, but didn’t reply for another 2 weeks. I don’t think he realizes the deadline is November 1.
Is it fair to still ask him to write one given the limited time, or is that risking a bad recommendation?
Thank you.
How many other recommendations do you have? If you already have enough, then I’d say not to, considering that he most likely won’t be able to write a stellar recommendation letter in such short notice. However, if you don’t have all the recommendation letters you require (if college x requires 2 teacher recs and you only have 1) then absolutely ask him. Getting in all your materials on time including your recs is more important than worrying about rushing him. However, also consider other possible recommenders, as his lack of response and apparent lack of knowledge about the college process could indicate that his recommendation writing skills might not be that great, even if he is a teacher who is close to you.
The teacher is not going to know what deadline you are aiming for if you don’t tell him. All schools are not Nov 1.
Instead of e-mailing him again, go and talk to him. Apologize a lot for doing this last minute. Explain that you want him to write a recommendation by the end of next week. He doesn’t seem familiar with the process so you may have to explain what he needs to do with the letter after it written. Can it be submitted to Naviance? Or does it need to be mailed? If so, the deadline is earlier. You really should not have waited so long for this. Don’t be surprised if the teacher says he can’t do it.
If he isn’t familiar with writing letter of rec, you can share MIT’s advice. Obviously, it needs to be customized to fit your particular situation, but it will give him the idea of what would be helpful. And no, it’s not rude to ask with 10 days left. Even if his letter is received a few days or a week past the deadline, the schools will accept it. It’s YOUR application that has to be on time.
http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs
Do be sure that an art teacher is acceptable. Many schools want to see the recommendations only from more academic subjects.
If there’s a two-week turnaround time every time you send an email, I’d be a bit worried about the teacher’s ability to get a letter completed within the deadline. Talk to your teacher face to face and explain the urgency of the situation. Then decide. Alternately, if you need one more recommendation, appeal to another teacher’s sense of mercy and explain that one of your recommendations unexpectedly didn’t work out.