<p>I wonder why teacher recommendation is confidential. I wish there was a way see it after graduation.</p>
<p>It's confidential so they can be honest, silly. If it weren't confidential, all teacher recommendations would be glowing.</p>
<p>You do have the option not to sign the waiver, and then you can see the recommendations after you matriculate at the college.</p>
<p>I had one teacher, however, who stated point-blank, "I will lie to a college about you but I will not lie to you about yourself."</p>
<p>thats a great quote there etselec.. lol</p>
<p>Just don't waive your right. :] Then you can read it after graduation.</p>
<p>wow the teacher who wrote my recommendation just wouldn't let me see it, and i am wondering why. i already got rejected from the school she wrote it for lol. is there any way i can red it?</p>
<p>Want to know the opinion of a teacher? </p>
<p>Ask for a recommendation letter for any scholarship that is valid etc. Simply dont submit the application and just open the letter and read it.</p>
<p>Some teachers will just insist on mailing it themselves. Other teachers will just give you the recommendation despite your having waived your right to read it.</p>
<p>Acere,
There is a little thing like ethics. You might want to look it up in the dictionary.</p>
<p>^ Heh.</p>
<p>Plus, some schools (namely the top ones) won't even accept recommendations unless the waiver has been signed (and other protective measures such as a signature over the envelope flap have been performed).</p>
<p>Teacher's recs have to be confidential if they have to have any value. If you have not impressed a teacher don't ask him/her for a rec. It is that simple. Once you choose a teacher to write a rec for you, have trust in him or her.</p>
<p>Everyone is different. In my D's case...she marked the box to NOT see the letter, but ALL of her teachers gave her a copy of the letter they wrote on her behalf. You should have seen how humbled my D felt upon reading them.</p>
<p>So much of the advice on CC is geared toward the truly brilliant students. For many others, the process is not quite so simple as saying "if you have not impressed a teacher, don't ask him/her for a rec."</p>
<p>If a kid is a good student, but not an exceptional one, and he's in a school with a lot of high-achieving kids, it may be difficult to ascertain whether or not he has made a positive enough impression on a teacher to request a rec. After all, you may not be the "best" student in any of your classes. So is being respectful, always doing your homework, participating in class, and getting a B good enough? Also, teachers who are real professionals avoid even the hint of differential treatment or favoritism. It's not like they go around telling kids, "You're the best student in this class." Also, if they are accustomed to having classes full of really bright kids (think AP teachers), they won't be likely to fawn all over any one student enough to give that child complete confidence in asking for a rec. And in a school like that, it's pretty darn hard to be a "best in my career" type of kid. Furthermore, you never know how a personal opinion expressed in class could backfire. What if unbeknownst to you, the teacher had had an abortion and you express your strong pro-life views? Teachers are human and sometimes can't help but be influenced emotionally by some things about a student.</p>
<p>Bottom line, I wish teachers would also have to sign some kind of form saying they will refuse to write a recommendation for a student if they don't think they can write a decent one.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Want to know the opinion of a teacher?</p>
<p>Ask for a recommendation letter for any scholarship that is valid etc. Simply dont submit the application and just open the letter and read it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>LOL I did that once, but not on purpose. I was applying to a summer camp but after getting the recommendations from the teacher, I decided that I didn't want to attend the camp after all. I couldn't resist the temptation.</p>
<p>"So is being respectful, always doing your homework, participating in class, and getting a B good enough?"</p>
<p>It should be good enough to get a recommendation that says that you were respectful, participated in class, did your homework and showed the intelligence required to learn the material.</p>
<p>It would be unreasonable to expect that such a performance would result in the teacher's rating you as one of the best students seen in their career. However, it would be reasonable to expect that the teacher would rate you in the top 30% or so of students whom s/he has taught.</p>
<p>You earned a "B" in a class that was nonhonors and known as a very easy class, it would be reasonable to expect that the teacher would strongly recommend you for Harvard or Yale.</p>
<p>It always could be a good idea to ask a a teacher if s/he feels able to recommend you for XXX college or scholarship, and then to ask the teacher what s/he will put in the recommendation.</p>
<p>A student asked me for a recommendation for grad school in English. The student had gotten a "C" in the journalism class that I had taught. I told the student that I could write that he was hard working, handed in assignments on time, worked closely with me to do the best that he could, and was one of the few students who passed the class, which required a great deal of writing. (Other students who were far more talented blew off the class by not submitting work on time -- which caused them to get 0 grades -- and by not doing the required revisions).</p>
<p>Anyway, the student still wanted me to write the recommendation, so that's what I did. I think that I rated him about in the 50th percentile of students whom I had taught. I said that I thought that due to his strong work ethic, he would be able to get his graduate degree. However, I didn't lie and say that he was one of the most talented students whom I had ever taught.</p>
<p>Student got into his graduate program, and recently sent me a notice that he got his doctorate.</p>
<p>Goes to show that an honest recommendation that is not a glowing one is not the kiss of death. </p>
<p>What can be the kiss of death, however, are recommendations indicating that a student is lazy, passive aggressive, doesn't like academics or is unethical.</p>