<p>I am a german teacher (currently teaching english,french and biology) and I am facing a problem which might seem rather unusal to the american boardmembers. But first things first, therfore:</p>
<p>One of my students (18 years old) wants to apply to Harvard. I consider him an exceptional student, very smart, witty, sociable etc. Since german schools don't have guidance counselors, I as his Leistungskurs teacher (meaning that I spend a lot time with him academically and have the task to prepare him for his Abitur) offered him to fill out his school report.
As I mentioned before - the student himself is not the problem. It's me. I really don't think that I with my current knowledge about how to fill out those forms can really do him justice.
I neither know what a GPA is, nor what unweighted/weighted means. I do know that he ranks #1 in his class of 149 (which would make him what you call a "valedictorian", correct?)
Apart from that I hardly know what to write in my evaluation. What is of special interest to the admissions people? I work at a quite prestigious german school, with a long history (founded in 1633) and even though the student described above would be the first student ever appyling to an american (Ivy-League!) university, our school is known for sending the top-students to the top (german) universities. Should I put a small historic overview into my school report?
I understand that the so-called extracurricular activites are of immense importance to american universities (which is not the case in germany, since it all depends on your grades where you can study). When it comes to his "ECs" I was shocked when he handed me his resume 4 days ago. In my career as a teacher I have never seen a young person that involved. He has already won 5 national english competitions, annually leads a seminar for students from all over the world, has written and directed 2 plays, which also have won many prizes,spend the summer at the Johns Hopkins University (in Baltimore, I think?) summer program (returned with straight As) wants to spend the summer of 2005 in japan, is heavily involved in theater (starred in more than 10 productions,(not on a school level, but is regularly working as an actor), started the school newspaper, student body president, part of the Young Union (a poltiical party for young people) tutors a lot,plays lacrosse --- the list just goes on and on.</p>
<p>I hope that you can understand that I feel the need to do this student justice, and I also hope that you can help me answer my questions. I really could need your help. Every single answer will be appreciated.</p>
<p>Sorry for writing that much, but I consider this task quite a challenge. :)</p>
<p>I'll wait for others more knowledgeable to answer these questions, but I have a question for you: Is your pupil applying for entry into Harvard for the Fall of 2006? But he is 18 years old now. Hmmm. It seems to me that all of the materials for the Fall of 2005 should already have been submitted.</p>
<p>With what you are saying about this young man, it seems he would be almost a sure thing for acceptance into the school, but you never can be certain. Will he be applying to other US schools as well?</p>
<p>He's applying for the fall 2006 semester. He just turned 18. He currently is in 12th grade, the german school system has 13 grades. That's why he is still in school</p>
<p>And - I do know that he is applying to Harvard (early). Apart from that he mentioned Georgetown, Yale, Princeton,Stanford,Columbia and some more (sad thing is - I haven't even heard of some of the schools he mentioned!)</p>
<p>Also, why don't you write the rec letter and ask 'marite' and 'Jamimom' to review it for you? Marite is french and her S was just accepted early to harvard. Jamimom's S--one of 9!--was just accepted early to Yale.</p>
<p>I think you have already written a very effective recommendation. The fact that your letter is a little unorthodox, but obviously sincere, seems likely to make it more powerful than the rather predictable school reports that American guidance counselors often submit. </p>
<p>If you can't answer all of the questions on the form, don't worry--just say something like, "Please see the letter of recommendation herewith." As for that recommendation, my only suggestion would be to add some more specifics about the traits and activities that make the student seem so exceptional to you. But I would retain the basic approach you have taken here: I believe it's far better to come out and say you don't know exactly what they're looking for than to try to imitate more conventional recommendations. </p>
<p>The fact that you are so concerned about doing justice to this student speaks very highly for him (as it does for you).</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to say that the young man does sound exceptional, and he is extremely fortunate that you are so concerned about his reference letter. Our daughter attends a British school in Switzerland and I know that the teachers were worried about completing all of the forms for American universities because the educational system is so different. Our school usually has one or two students who go to the States every year so I can give you a few tips.
First of all, our Director of Studies (guidance counselor) describes the school, the curriculum and the grading scale. If your school has a website, it is a good idea to include the URL. I believe that he also provides a list of the colleges where students have matriculated during the past several years. He does not include a GPA or class rank, but you could certainly mention that this student is ranked number 1.
I am not familiar with the German system, but I think that it is similar, in some respects, to the British A-levels (external exams). If so, it is important to include predicted exam results with his school transcript if he will not have the official exams results when he applies. For example, our daughter will take her A-levels in May and June. Her school sent predicted results because she will not receive her official results until August, which is too late for American colleges.
I also think that if you explain the situation, the admissions officers will read the student's dossier in the appropriate context and realize that this must be a special young man to provoke such dedication from a teacher.
My daughter's teachers have been fantastic throughout this past year and I am feeling extremely grateful to all teachers, especially ones like you!</p>
<p>Nikola, I applaud your interest in helping this boy achieve his dream. We are an American family that lives overseas, but since many of the kids from our high school go on to US colleges the recommenders have become used to the drill. I think that the boys application will speak for itself in terms of his many accomplishments, both academic and extracurricular so I wouldnt worry about reiterating all of them.</p>
<p>In the American system, the colleges usually ask for three recommendations. The high school counselor writes one recommendation which would include a profile of the school, giving the college an idea of how to place the school academically on a national level. The second and third recommendations are usually from academic teachers. For example one from Biology, one from English literature. It seems that youre writing all three! Since this is an exceptional situation, it certainly isnt a problem, but you do have to cover a lot of ground. </p>
<p>What Id suggest is that you expand on two areas:</p>
<p>First, the boys character. Since it seems that you know him personally perhaps you can give examples of his personality honesty, kindness, positive thinking whatever traits would be appealing. Or talk about how his ability to be smart, witty and sociable contributed to class discussions.</p>
<p>Second, you should describe what the academic environment is like at YOUR school. Since it was not an American system, Im sure the colleges would like to better understand and gauge the rigor and focus of the coursework. (E.g., does it encourage creativity and/or analytic thought?) Again, give examples of areas that the boy excelled in.</p>
<p>Be frank with the colleges. If your grading system doesnt correlate to a GPA system, then just explain how your grades are established. You might also mention where former #1 students have gone on to study. The top American colleges will be well familiar with their European counterparts.</p>
<p>Nikola
I hope that you are not writing all 3 recommendation letters like Momrath above said? The schools here like to get different perspectives on a student, and while you may serve as his Guidance Counselor, he needs to get at least one other teacher to write. (Maybe you could help the other teacher too)</p>
<p>Last year a French-American friend's daughter applied to US schools from her Lycee (located outside of France). The teachers had never completed American-style recommendations.</p>
<p>Here were some of the issues:
1. American teachers have different "superlatives" that they will use to describe students than French teachers. In other words, the French teachers tended to use less impressive forms of compliments, when an American teacher might have "glorified" a bit more. Sometimes these were "lost in translation" as well. You seem like a fluent English speaker, which would avoid some of these issues.
2. Systemic differences in terms of course content- my friend's daughter took classes (in Sciences, eg. which were at greater depth and different breadth than American courses. The teachers delineated content in the recommendations).
3. Grading differences- in the French system there is no grade inflation...it is harsh.</p>
<p>When my friend showed me the recommendations (she had taken them for translation) we agreed, however, that the biggest issue was that they lacked a "personal touch"- a description of what made this kid- beyond acheivement- a unique and worthy applicant.</p>
<p>The more prestigious schools in the US seem to have a pretty good handle on the ins and outs of the various national educational systems...I wouldn't worry too much about this in your recommendation. I would focus on personal qualities, academic dynamism, these sorts of things....</p>
<p>Dear Nikola,
We are an American Family living in Germany, my daughter attends a German Gymnasium (10. Klasse), and I have 2 sons in University in the US. When it is time for us to get recommendations for D, I hope we get a teacher who cares as much as you do! </p>
<p>I think you have already gotten very good advice on this question. But I would like to emphasize that Americans are more complimentary than Germans. What the poster above (robrym) said about the personal touch is also true. Write the letter as if you are trying to convince someone how wonderful this student is (which you are.) Use examples. My sons' letters from teachers were quite lengthy and detailed, and included personal anecdotes.</p>
<p>As far as GPA, the college will probably have some formula to figure that themselves. The 1-6 grading scale doesn't translate very well. </p>
<p>As for ECs - he should be turning in the list himself with his application, so you don't need to restate all of them. You could include that statement similar to what you wrote above that you've never seen a student so involved and accomplished. If any of the ECs directly involve you, touch on those from a personal angle. If the school has honored him - or benefited from any of the ECs - you can mention that as well. (I'm thinking about theater, or his English awards....)</p>
<p>One thing I am guess he will be lacking is volunteerism. That is not as big here as in the US, and we had trouble finding things for our son to do here (He needed to perform community service here in order to maintain his involvement in some clubs back in the US). If you can mention ways in which he "gives back" to the community, that will help.</p>
<p>Thank you for this excellent advice, everyone!</p>
<p>binx, "volunteer work", what exactly is meant by that? </p>
<p>And no, I am not writing all three recommendations, but since I will function as his "guidance counselor", I will try to help the other teachers write a sufficent recommendation.</p>
<p>volunteer work is often used as a substitute for community service. It means unpaid work; it often involves things like tutoring other students, helping in a library or hospital or museum, reading or delivering meals to housebound sick people or otherwise helping them; helping out in homeless shelters. This is very much a feature of American society that is less commonly found in Europe where the government provides more social services and where unions might not make it easy to find unpaid work. Don't worry: your student has plenty of extracurricular activities (ECs) on his resume. He does not need to add volunteer work to them.</p>
<p>Volunteer work is doing work within the community without charging money. So, you are not employed and bringing in a paycheck for volunteering, although a person or group might get money from other people through fundraising to benefit their organization and use the money to assist people (or animals) who need it most. So, if the student was involved in an organization that raised money to buy food for a homeless shelter or to help abused animals, that would be volunteer work. Or if the student helped shelve books at a library after school and was not paid, that would be volunteer work. Also, you said he tutors--does he do this for a paycheck or not?</p>
<p>I don't think a student like this should have to worry about "checking off boxes" in terms of EC's...American high schools require community service and American colleges want to see community service- so kids, whether they truly want to or not, do community service. I think it would look ridiculous for this student, as it looks ridiculous for any other student, to dwell on activities that are newly "created" in 12th grade, or on which they spend very little time compared to their areas of real achievement.</p>
<p>Most colleges have admissions directors specifically for international students. Contact with them is easy and they often travel their regions. I would think they would welcome contact from a concerned teacher/advisor as to any discrepancies or uncertainties and how they should be handled.</p>
<p>Speaking of contacting the admission directors ... how do I do that ? </p>
<p>I am not sure whether he tutors for a paycheck or not - but it's rather common for students in germany to do it in order to earn some extra money. </p>
<p>And on a side note - what does "deferred" mean?</p>