<p>Whoa–I wish!! Any rec I wrote for my kid would be so smoking it would probably spontaneously combust en route. None of his colleges asked, but his GC asked for a brag sheet and it probably helped inform the rec he wrote. I did show it to my son before I sent it and he said, “Boy, this makes me sound really interesting.” It was non-fiction, I might add.</p>
<p>duke asks for it.</p>
<p>yes, I wrote one for my Ds Duke application last year. I was pretty relaxed about it and it was fun writing it. She got into Duke and was rejected by what I consider equivalent places like Dartmouth, Georgetown, so I like to think my letter was the difference, though I’m sure it wasn’t.</p>
<p>I believe Dartmouth and Williams have “peer recommendations”, but I don’t know if they apply to parents…</p>
<p>'rentof2</p>
<p>“In the case of parents who are less-educated or articulate, I think it would be a really good idea to have someone else help them write it, or to help polish their recommendation. It’s not like it’s cheating… it’s not the parents who are applying and their writing skills are not being tested. It’s the ideas they want to share about their kid that matters, and there’s no reason they couldn’t get help expressing those ideas in a letter.”</p>
<p>Actually, that’s one thing I wouldn’t worry about too much. Just as it is very important that student essays preserve the student’s voice - so too should the parent’s letter be true to the parent’s voice. Discuss the letter with others and running it through spell-check is fine: but the words and the voice absolutely must be your own.</p>
<p>Saint Mary’s College of MD has an optional essay from a friend or parent. My D asked her best friend to write one for her 
- I told her I’d like to write one as well and she could decide which she wanted to send. Plus I felt bad for her friend having to write all her college essays to have to write one more. So I wrote the essay and gave it to my D to read. She did decide to go with the one I wrote. Like the above parents, I really enjoyed writing it. Additionally I loved having my D read what I wrote - I think it helped her to see just how we view her and maybe sometimes I don’t dwell on the things that I really love about our her or what makes her unique. So she got to read just what a wonderful person I thought she’d grown into being and writing it from a prespective as having seen her growth from birth to now - no other recommender can do that. It’s optional but I think it helps an adcomm to maybe see why this applicant is unique or what their strengths are - or at least what their parents perceive to be their strengths!</p>
<p>These are such wonderful responses that I’m hesitant to share my slightly cynical take on the purpose of the parent rec. It would, of course, be unethical to give applicants an edge because their parents are particularly articulate or supportive. That’s why I doubt that this rec is requested by Admissions. I’d guess it’s more likely included at the request of the Advancement (fundraising) staff, who will continue to build relationships with parents of new students in preparation for seeking their financial contributions. What better way to give the parents a stake in the school than soliciting their input just before accepting their student?</p>
<p>Although I write a lot, I about had a panic attack when I realized that as a homeschool parent that it was my job to write the guidance counselor’s letter. I’m so glad I did now, though. It really gave me a chance to reflect on what I saw was special about my ds and to explain some of the educational choices we had made.</p>
<p>I think colleges probably ask for these as a way of making sure they get <em>something</em> that gives them some insight into a student’s character. I served on a scholarship committee for many years and it was obvious that most of the recommendation letters were really form letters. It was very encouraging when we received one that really gave us some insight into the student - and those students very often won the scholarships. Recommendation letters and student essays were the critical indicators for us.</p>
<p>I’m a homeschool parent, too, huguenot, and I appreciated being able to write the guidance counselor letter. I certainly know far more about my kid than any counselor could possibly. So in a way, it was like writing a parent’s letter of rec. It was fun because I could talk about certain character traits of his that I think are important to know. Also I got to put in a few of his deficiencies… lol… nothing serious, but enough to lighten-up the Tribute To My Child overture.</p>
<p>Union College asks for a Parent Recommendation, but it’s not required</p>
<p>When my son was applying for colleges, his high school “resume” was very inconsistent. His test scores were high, but some of his grades were bad. One of the things that we think helped him get into a top school was a peer recommendation from his sister. She told me that she was happy to write it because she felt that he had qualities that made him a good match for the school that admissions would not see in his application. I think that a parent recommendation is a great opportunity to communicate some of the great things about your child that don’t necessarily show up in test scores, grades, or extracurriculars. Maybe there is a family story that demonstrates your child’s character better than anything in their school record? A parent recommendation might be the place to share that.</p>
<p>Smith still asks for one.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Smith and other schs do not request parent recs from ED applicants.</p>
<p>My parents wrote one up for me…and they won’t show me it. -.-</p>
<p>How about if you were deferred from a college? The letters ask for any additional information so would a parent recommendation help?</p>
<p>Our high school’s guidance department asked all parents to write a letter about their child in September of senior year. Surprisingly it was hard for counselors to get these recommendation for a lot of the students. I spent a lot of time writing it and saw it as an opportunity for me to expand on what the GC (in a large suburban high school) knew about my daughter. He was free to plagerize and use any excerpt from my letter in his own recommendation letter!</p>
<p>I had to write two letters of recommendation for my sons’ Eagle Scout applications, and will have to write another for my third son. I didn’t try to temper the pride I felt in the kind of young men they have grown to be, and the anticipation I feel looking forward to seeing what they do with their futures.</p>
<p>They want a letter from mom, and that’s what they got! I will say that given the accomplishments that others could point to, I felt that as a mom I could speak to deeper issues of character and commitment that I am privileged to know about.</p>
<p>I’m knee-deep in letters of reference for my students right now, and DS#3 is a junior and 6 months away from Eagle, so I’m glad I don’t have to think about writing a parental letter of recommendation right now.</p>
<p>my mom wrote on for hobart and william smith today on behalf of me. its so weird, because i read this thread yesterday and mentally thought that it would be interesting and then today i got a letter from them requesting one.</p>
<p>What if your parents aren’t fluent in English? Students with parents capable of communicating their thoughts are going to have an edge over those without (glowing rec>mediocre rec=no rec). I agree that it provides obvious advantages, I’m just saying.</p>
<p>My mom’s got to write one for Smith. She wants to talk about my health problems and how much I’ve struggled…something I mentioned but choose not to highlight as part of my app cause they’re still going to be an issue and be just as limiting in college.
I don’t want to hover but should I be concerned ??</p>