<p>I am really nervous about teacher recommendations. How do you ask for them? Should you bring a list of extracurriculars, test scores, and such?</p>
<p>What about the common application? Do you just ask the teacher to send the recommendation to all the colleges? Or should you include it with your application? Please help.</p>
<p>while this might not work for every teacher, one teacher of mine gave me the heads up on recommendations by telling me if i wated her to write me a letter, i give her a complete resume, a folder with the date by which the letters need to be sent in, and at least two weeks time to write it.</p>
<p>Don't be nervous! Getting teacher recs. should be a relatively painless process.</p>
<p>My recommendation would be to find two teachers (who know you fairly well and taught you junior year or are teaching you senior year), one from math/science and one from humanities. The teachers who write the best recommendations aren't necessarily the ones who gave you the best grades. If you didn't do as well in pre-calc as other things, but the teacher really saw you working hard, and you have a good relationship, a rec. from the pre-calc teacher that sees other qualities that make you a great student could be an invaluable part of your application. It would be more effective than a teacher who gave you an A writing a generic letter recognizing talent. Go with whomever you think would best represent you. </p>
<p>On asking: just ask the teacher if she'd be willing to write a rec. for you. It could be after class, in the hallway, wherever, but try to do it in person. I wouldn't bring a list of ECs, test scores, etc., because the idea behind the teacher rec. is the teacher's impression of you as you were in his/her class, which probably didn't involve your SAT scores. </p>
<p>The thing to remember is that teachers are doing you a BIG favor by writing the recommendations. It's therefore best to print out everything they'll need, including stamped and addressed envelopes. They can photocopy common app. recs, but make sure they have the teacher evaluation forms for schools that don't, too.
What I did was paperclip each teacher evaluation form and indicate, on an attached sheet, the school name (just in case) and the date I needed it in to the school by.</p>
<p>I'd try to give teachers the recommendations materials in September or early October. It's especially important if you're applying EA/ED that you get the stuff to the teachers early.</p>
<p>The resume can be helpful, but isn't as important as copies of your best papers, tests that you did in the teacher's classes. Also provide information about anything outstanding or significant that you did in clubs that the teacher advised. Let them know, too, why you are applying to the colleges you selected, what you plan to major in, and what your career goals are.</p>
<p>Colleges want information from the teacher about things that the teacher has personally experienced with you that indicate your academic ability, character, and what you have to offer the college community. Consequently, the colleges aren't interested in having the teacher rehash your resume, but instead the colleges would like to know what the teacher saw you do in their classes and clubs.</p>
<p>Don't be bashful about providing the kind of info that I suggest to your teachers. You, not they, will have the best memory of your achievements in their classes and clubs. The info that you provide will help them write the best recommendations that they can give you.</p>
<p>I have posted the following question somewhere on this thread, but now don't remember what and where it's. So, I post it again here. Thanks in advance for your replies :)</p>
<p>As we all know, the purpose of rec letters is to add new perspectives on your application, or more precisely help admission officiers gain new insights into the human side of your application. And I definitely read somewhere on this board that if it would do no good if rec letters are repetitive ( I mean it will hurt if there's nothin' new adcoms can glean from the letters, however sparkling they are ). But, for instance, if you strike your teachers as a hard-working type, both two teachers you ask to write rec letters will sure mention this particular trait. And it's obviously a repetition. Will it hurt applicants' chance of admission ? Honestly speaking, I'm a little bit worried about this, since I sure make the same impression upon all the teachers who have taught me ( an indolent, careless type, to name a few :D )</p>
<p>As far as the mechanics are concerned, the schools themselves will tell you in their application materials. Most we dealt with specified that the recommendations should come directly from the teachers. One said it would take letters with the application itself. But in the latter case, the letters had to be in sealed envelopes with the recommenders' signatures over the flap, in order to show confidentiality. It was just easier to handle everything the same way, though.</p>
<p>So once your teachers have agreed to do recommendations, give them stamped, addressed envelopes and the appropriate forms.</p>
<p>"And I definitely read somewhere on this board that if it would do no good if rec letters are repetitive ( I mean it will hurt if there's nothin' new adcoms can glean from the letters, however sparkling they are ). But, for instance, if you strike your teachers as a hard-working type, both two teachers you ask to write rec letters will sure mention this particular trait. "</p>
<p>There's no problem with having letters that emphasize the same wonderful characteristics about you. What such letters do is indicate that those characteristics are consistent, not just something that showed up when you were only with a teacher whom you happened to like.</p>
<p>For example, it would not be good if one teacher indicated you were very hard working. mature and well organized and another teacher said that you are a procrastinator who works hard only when things are of great interest to you.</p>