<p>Not sure why I can't visualize this yet...my 2nd kid is going to benefit a lot from what i learn with this first kid.</p>
<p>Okay, so I am seeing notes that juniors should ask their teachers now for recommendations....so they can work on them over the summer or have it at the top of the list when school starts back.</p>
<p>Is this how it works?
1. D writes the two teachers she would like as her recommenders
2. Once they say "sure" she then writes a letter summing up her accomplishments that they can refer to when writing the notes.
3. Then....well, then what? D is not 100% certain on <em>what</em> colleges she will be applying to....so do the recommendations simply go into a global file? This is where i"m confused....surely the teachers aren't gong to write individual recommendations for a kid applying to 7 or 8 schools (times X number of kids). So how do the letters then move to the schools? </p>
<p>Have her talk with her guidance counselor. Many schools want to be in charge of all items that are sent to the schools in order to ensure that everything is taken care of. In that case, the teachers submit the LOR to the guidance office, and the guidance office then forwards them to the requested colleges.</p>
<p>got it! now that makes sense…so D writes teachers, teachers write recs, teachers give to guidance counselor and then GC forwards to colleges. Yahoo! That clears it up for me. </p>
<p>(my D attends urban public high school with 300 seniors, 1 GC so we don’t get a lot of personal attention…which is fine 
</p>
<p>Since the top choices of a student are often similar, letting a teacher know your top preferences can let them tailor a letter to that type of school. LACs may require a different type of letter than Big State, teachers who know you’re gunning for Ivies will take the letters very seriously because they know they are a big part of the application, etc. No, they aren’t going to write 8 different letters, but you do need to give them a clue who the potential audience is.</p>
<p>At my school, the teachers send them in themselves. And yes, they do write x number of copies, one for each school you’re applying to. But then again, we don’t do it electronically.</p>
<p>Some teachers may tell you how many recommendations they can write for you. For all schools on CommonApp, it is considered as one anyway. My D’s Chemistry teacher limit 4 submission per student. Even they do not write a new letter for each school you apply, they will need to either print it out to mail or submit it electronically. My D actually asked 4 teachers at the end of Junior to write LOR and distributed them among 7 schools (some require 3 LOR or allow 4 LOR) and also scholarships applications in the Fall. The GC does not handle the teacher’s LOR as most of them require direct submission by the teacher (either by mail or online). This is particularly the case for CommonApp. GC need to submit another LOR and school report for each application though.</p>
<p>Thanks folks…amazing insights & help here! </p>
<p>Teachers at DDs school uploaded the CA letter of rec per Naviance. It’s always a good idea to grab a few copies because your student will need LORs for scholarship apps. DD asked them to seal the LORs in envelopes with the schools letter head & they would sign the seal. Even with this method, she ran out and had to ask the teachers for more copies. One was nice enough to just give her a copy and we made copies to send. So much easier than pestering them needlessly. </p>
<p>Good luck! And try to enjoy the process. </p>