Teacher recommendation dilemma

Applying to College
1

<p>I am a junior and it has come time to ask my teachers to write me recs over the summer. I am definitely getting one from my APUSH teacher who can write about my leadership, personality, and enthusiasm in the class. My supplementary rec is from my AP music theory teacher/choral director who knows me on a very personal level and can speak about my musical passion and piano. I am undecided on the second academic rec...I am thinking either my AP English teacher this year, my honors English teacher last year, or my AP bio teacher this year. </p>

<p>AP English teacher is the nicest woman to exist, but she has many students and I am afraid she will write something generic. </p>

<p>Honors teacher from last year always praised my writing and told me I got the best grades on nearly all of the essays. She is known to give excellent recs, however I haven't had her since last year, and she does not know my personality too well. I was on the quiet side in her class, but that does not reflect my persona at all.</p>

<p>Lastly, my AP bio teacher probably knows me as a person the best. She sees me interacting with peers and knows my quirky/humorous sense. But, I don't know if she takes it as annoying/childish, because she would be too nice to tell me to stop anyways. </p>

<p>Which teacher would you pick?</p>

2

<p>You should probably select a teacher from Junior or, if possible, Senior year. It always looks a little suspicious if you have to reach back to Sophomore year for a recommendation. Do you have a college adviser or guidance counselor whom you trust to give you some input regarding your Biology teacher’s feelings about you? </p>

3

<p>That’s what I thought, but on all the college visits that I’ve been to they always stress that it doesn’t matter who the teacher is, as long as they can write positive things about you…and writing is one of my strong suits. Science is by far my weakest subject. I do work hard, but I’m not sure if my teacher can see that. It would be nice for her to say that my B is hard earned. I will definitely speak with my GC about this soon, but I wanted to have many opinions on it. </p>

4

<p>Bump</p>

5

<p>Junior year teachers are generally preferred, in a core subject, as they’ve had you for at least a year at your highest level of work. Only reach back to sophomore year if you’ve got a special case, like you were the only sophomore to take Physics C - E&M. Senior year teachers have the problem that they usually haven’t known you as long, therefore won’t be able to write as detailed a recommendation. Your GC should know which teachers write the best letters, so definitely ask them.</p>