<p>My daughter attended a small, rigorous private school for her first two years of high school and got B's in all of her classes. For financial reasons, her last two years of high school will be at a large public school where she is getting A's. She is considering asking a teacher from her first school to provide one of her letters of recommendation, in part because the teacher really likes her, and also so that the teacher can explain how difficult the private school is compared to the local public high schools. Does anyone have any thoughts about the pros and cons of getting recommendations from teachers at different schools, or from a teacher that only knew a student as a freshman and sophomore?</p>
<p>Well, chances are that the colleges your daughter will apply to will be familiar with that private school, so there's no need for the private school teacher to explain that. I think the best strategy is to ask the teachers who will write her the strongest recommendation letters.</p>
<p>it should be fine</p>
<p>Does your child still keep in touch with the old teacher? If not, then she should not ask for a letter of recc.</p>
<p>Furthermore, consider this: The college sees that your child only picked one teacher from her current school for a letter. The first question that pops into mind is, "Why couldn't she get another one from her current school? Did the teachers not like her? Did she refuse to assimilate?" Yes, getting the strongest reccs is the most important but this question will DEFINITELY come up. Consider the implications. Remember that you can always send more than 3 recc letters.</p>
<p>I do have about the same situtaion as your daughter. I had attended a public high school in NJ for the first two years, and then transferred to another high school in CT, which i will graduate from. </p>
<p>I was wondering is it a good idea to get 2 teachers from NJ HS and 2 teachers from current HS to write me letter of recs--to add up to a 4 recs total?
I'm thinking about asking my geometry teacher and english teacher from NJ HS to write me recs because they had written me a strong letter of recs for summer programs. I think i can get into contact with them even my math teacher no longer teaches at that school.</p>
<p>And, for my current HS, I've only spend 5 months in this new school (moved Feb 2008) and I think I've come on pretty good terms with most of my teachers. So i'm thinking about doing my calculus teacher to write me rec, and one other teacher I don't know to ask.
So, guys, what do u think? is it good idea to pick 2 from each high school to show colleges how well I've done in those schools? OR just, one from each school? I want to show colleges that I am good in BOTH math/sci and humantities as well.</p>
<p>Here's the deal: Recs should be fresh, current, and beaming. Your old teachers probably won't remember you and will therefore most likely write lackluster letters of rec. I would go with current teachers. Pick classes that you are either strong in or passionate about (both would be great) and ask those teachers for letters of rec. It also is important to choose teachers that you know can write well.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input. Yes, our daughter still keeps in touch with her former teacher, who had taught her for two years and will say nice things about her. On the other hand, I can appreciate the fact that a recommendation from a more current teacher may be more compelling. I think we will recommend that she get a couple of letters from current teachers, but still request a letter from her previous teacher.</p>