Recently, I’ve become a tad paranoid that my recommendations are too run-of-the-mill and average. My math rec was pretty great, I assume, as I have had the teacher for two years and been captain of the math team under her for two years. As captain, I’ve led our team to placement in the top five at every district and state competition we have been to. Unfortunately, I have only had my English teacher this year and our relationship is pretty ‘meh.’ She seems to like me more than some of the other students (we make small talk about the TV shows we both watch, etc.) and I’m one of the few who have high A’s in her class. But, she doesn’t know me too well, as she mostly keeps to herself. My special interest recommendation (for A) was by my Global Perspectives (politics and current events) teacher, who likes me very much and knows me well. But, he did admit that he was a bit lazy filling out the recommendation, and that set off an alarm for me. My personal rec was from a family friend who we have known very long, but I’m afraid it will sound pretty common and uninteresting in the selection pool. Oh, and to make matters worse, there is a student I share teachers with who is also applying to Exeter (she’s a legacy with excellent stats, so she’ll be in) and another student I share teachers with applying to Andover. That leaves me to think that while my math rec may be a bit better (due to my closer relationship with the teacher), we will have very similar English recs. Perhaps I’m only being anxious, but how serious are recommendations looked at when candidates are reviewed? I’m speaking as in relation to other factors, such as grades, test scores, essays, and interviews, of course.
Based on other posts, it seems that many, if not most kids are similarly situated in that their math and English teachers have known them a relatively short amount of time. I’m taking a guess here, but I’d think the recs can only help, and seldom hurt an applicant. I think of them more as references–that you’re a good kid that can handle the work and independence at a boarding school. I imagine there are times when a recommender can provide an insight into some super-special quality/achievement of a student, but I’d think that would somehow have been otherwise evident somewhere else in the application file and the recommendation just reinforces that quality or achievement. Given how many applications the ao’s have to read, the essays seem to be more likely to capture the attention of the reviewer(s). But that’s just my guess. Although it’s easier said than done, at this point try to trust that you did the best you could with the apps and that the best possible outcome will become a reality.
@AppleNotFar agreed…