<p>I'm an upcoming senior and I am very anxious with the recommendations.</p>
<p>I haven't focused on my teacher-student relationship that much (although it is something that should come very naturally and should not be artificial) and had either been procrastinating or appear as an average, unnoticed student.</p>
<p>I do turn in my hw in time, do well on the exams, participate actively in class, however, my rec seems to be mediocre if not worse.</p>
<p>an entire semester has passed and there is really, only 3 months left to strengthen this 'bond' </p>
<p>how much weight/significance do these recommendations hold?
and do you think it'll be ok if I asked my teacher for senior year to write my recommendation?</p>
<p>the college I aim for are Penn, Duke, Columbia, etc.
Thanks for reading and feel free to post any comments...</p>
<p>most teachers are usally pretty cool about recs. Alot of teachers just use a template and just input your info, that when in comes in handy to be cool with a couple teachers. Remember senior year teachers can write recs as well</p>
<p>i think recomendations are overated and carry little signifigance unless you are on the border line. I feel that personal statements are a better indication of the student</p>
<p>The most important thing to get an orgasmically amazing recommendation is to do better than anyone on tests and be at the top of the class. That's it. It's no use trying to befriend your teachers because they don't think of that when they write recommendations; they think MAINLY of you academic performance in your class. If no one can touch you academically in your class, everything else falls in place and the recommendation will be good. STUDY HARD AS HELL FOR TESTS.</p>
<p>You can still get recs from senior teachers.</p>
<p>Also, recs from classes in which you showed progress is key. This not only explains initial mishaps but also exemplifies your evolution as a student, mainly that you can adapt to tough academic situations. This quality is essential in college.</p>
<p>My school's pretty small. We have about 120 or so high schoolers, so a lot of the high school teachers are coaches and advisors for community service groups. (E.g. One of our two biology teachers coaches the boys' soccer, girls' jv basketball and girls' softball team) While people are right in saying most teachers think of your academic performance, depending on your school size, knowin' a teacher outside of class is pretty important, too. Most kids here either ask a rec from a teacher in a class they're known to be super-duper in, or something they're mediocre in, but who they see outside the class, so the teacher can talk about how they're the "glue of the team" and "supportive" and stuff.</p>
<p>Try something daring. Ask the teacher for the class in which you have your highest grade and the one in which you have your lowest grade, but are trying hard in. That way it highlights your strengths and shows that you are aiming to improve any weakness.</p>
<p>no i don't think so. just choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with. it's also good if that teacher knows you pretty well. (doesn't matter if they're from senior/junior year)</p>
<p>One way I found helpful to find teachers that were good recs was come in at lunch and ask for help for things I already understood. It works well with math teachers especially.</p>