Sophomore year recs

<p>So,</p>

<p>I know that CC always trumpets the junior/senior year is much preferable thing, but this contradicts a lot of what I've heard.</p>

<p>A Princeton admissions officer at my school recently told me that Princeton requires recs to be from Sophomore/Junior year teachers and not from Senior year, while a Stanford admission officer told us that Stanford doesn't accept any sophomore year recs.</p>

<p>So let's get this figured out. I've already solicited two letters of rec - one from a sophomore year teacher, and one from a junior year teacher. Obviously, I need another letter from junior/senior for Stanford, but I need to figure out what to do about my other schools. What schools will REALLY disapprove of sophomore year teachers like Stanford, and what schools like sophomore year teachers like Princeton (assume that the second letter is a junior year teacher).</p>

<p>^Stanford accepts sophomore teacher recommendation letters. However, they do strongly encourage junior or senior recommendations. I’m probably going to send my sophomore recommendation anyway.</p>

<p>I’m also interested in your question though. I’m in the same dilemma; I’m unsure about how top schools view sophomore recommendations.</p>

<p>Why not take the directions that the colleges provide to heart? Each admissions committee has their own idea of what they need. So send some recommendations to some colleges and other recommendations to other colleges. It’s more work – but that’s part of the price of applying to multiple colleges.</p>

<p>You can usually send “supplementary” recommendation if you feel that they will add to your application portfolio.</p>

<p>I think the reason underlying the preference for jr/sr LORs is based on the level of the coursework. It’s just my personal belief that sr LORs are tricky if it’s the only class you’ve had with a teacher and particularly if it’s for an early application (EA/ED/rolling), since it gives the teacher little time to get to know the student & write the LOR. On the other hand, if the soph LOR is from an AP class, I think it’s just as strong as a jr LOR. </p>

<p>Of course, the first priority is to follow any requirements of the school, but if permitted, use your judgment about which will represent you in the strongest manner.</p>

<p>I’d just written the above when I decided to check the S webstie to see exactly what they say:</p>

<p>[Teacher</a> Evaluations : Stanford University](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/evals.html]Teacher”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/application/freshman/evals.html)</p>

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<p>So in this case submitting a supplemental LOR would not work. As in most things in life: read the instructions carefully, follow the rules and use your best judgment.</p>

<p>OK, my issue is that the majority of schools do not specify whether they prefer sophomore or senior year teachers. Stanford and Princeton are the only ones that have been that explicit. I intend to send different recs to different colleges, but I don’t know which prefers which, especially given their unclear directions.</p>

<p>My sophomore year teacher taught me in AP European History, my first AP class. I did very well in the class, got a 5 on the test, and have continued to participate in a club supervised by that teacher.</p>