<p>Apparently our school directs the teachers not to use the recommendation forms that come with a particular school's application. Instead, they write letters of their own. </p>
<p>I'm just wondering how many other high schools do this and if the colleges would be concerned about not getting their form. After all, the form asks some specific questions about the applicant. </p>
<p>Thanks for any input!</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s so uncommon. Both my son’s and my daughters’ schools do the same thing. I’m sure that admissions officers are familiar with the policies of the schools for which they are responsible and know that some schools choose not to use these forms.</p>
<p>Most teachers will write one letter that will go to all the schools the student applies to. This is a common practice, and it is absolutely fine. It is unreasonable to expect the teachers to fill out individual school forms. It might be helpful to staple the letter to the original form, just so the college knows for sure that this is the one it replaces.</p>
<p>Does this mean most teachers won’t fill out the CommonApp Teacher Recommendation Form?</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/Teacher_Evaluation.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/Teacher_Evaluation.pdf</a></p>
<p>At large public schools, where a handful of upper-class teachers are asked buy a few hundreds of students to send 10-15 letters per student, I believe that most teachers will not do any form-filling that is expected to be done “by hand”. I do not believe that this will in any way affect the admissions results, as long as there is a good and meaningful letter attached.</p>
<p>nngmm - Just asking … wouldn’t it be quicker to fill out the check-mark based CommonApp form than to write a “good and meaningful letter?”</p>
<p>The "good and meaningful letter "is attached to the bottom of the completed Common App teacher rec form.</p>
<p>Actually, no it’s not attached to the Common App form at all. It is mailed separately to the school.</p>
<p>NewHope…yes, I think it would be quicker, but I think that the school feels this is actually a better thing to do. I’m just wondering how it gets filed properly without the form! I guess I have to assume they put all the student’s info in the letter…but I have wondered about that.</p>
<p>Frequently, teachers (or HS guidance office, if they’re compiling the “packet”) staple the school’s form to their own printed rec.</p>
<p>actually ready to Roll, on the bottom of the college board teacher rec form[ see post 4] it says" feel free to attach an additional sheet." That is where many teachers write their actual evaluations, instead of hand writing it on the form itself. Then they print out the evaluation letter, which they have written and have saved on a computer, and attach it to the CBform. It makes for one less envelope that could be misfiled or lost in the manic sorting of material in College admissions offices each Jan.</p>
<p>One of the first things I recommend to my students is that they organize their schools/applications. Compile your list of schools that take the common app and do all of those at the same time. Then do the schools that ask for a school specific form.</p>
<p>What I have found is that most schools will take the common app recommendation form (so from a one stop shopping perspective, it makes things easier).</p>
<p>When compling by hand we do just as 2boysima states. We put together a packet with the transcript form recommendation letter (s) and the school profile.</p>
<p>If we are doing the common app on-line, all of the information can be uploaded to the common app.</p>
<p>Our teachers write their own letters (no forms) which are then kept on file in the Guidance Office. When the student submits their app, they notify their GC and fill out a little form that indicates what optional info (LOR, test scores) they want included in the school’s standard packet (transcript ,profile and GC rec). Parents and student sign the request. The GC then sends a receipt to the student indicating when the packet was sent. We have never, with 3 kids apps, had a college come back asking for their specific rec form and the system seems to work pretty well.</p>
<p>Make sure you know what kind of lead time your GC needs to get their packet prepared. Our schools send out a calendar at the beginning of school listing deadlines (11/1 app deadlines need to have request to Guidance by 10/20, etc). The bigger deadlines like 1/1 need more lead time as so many kids are sending in apps with that deadline.</p>
<p>About those deadlines- does the 1/1 deadline apply for everything or just the student’s application? In other words, if the teacher’s LOR or the transcript arrive on 1/15, will the college still consider the application timely? If so, what is the <em>real</em> deadline for these other documents?</p>
<p>1/1 is the deadline for the student part of the application. 1/15 arrival of other parts won’t be a problem. Not sure when the “real” deadline is for the other parts.</p>
<p>
I don’t think there is a “real deadline”, and this could depend on the school. I know that Stanford, for example, will contact the student at some point at the end of January, and ask them to have the missing parts faxed. They usually give you 48 hrs to get it there at that point. I would not be surprised if huge publics would just dismiss an app if some vital part (like the transcript) is missing.</p>
<p>
It would, but filling out that grid does not replace the letter - it is expected to be done in addition to writing the letter, and I think most teachers don’t do this, maybe with exception for their most favorite students of all times…</p>
<p>DD’s prep school strongly recommends that students contact and formally sign up (by submitting a specific form) in Junior spring two teachers who will write recommendations, in addition to the student’s advisor and college counselor. The recommendations will hopefully be written during summer.</p>
<p>A staff support person is specifically tasked with coordinating and sending these recommendations to all colleges; recommendations just can’t be tailored to specific schools - there are too many, given that students are applying to 10 to 17 or 18 schools each. </p>
<p>Transcripts are sent out in batches through the fall and then again on December 31 and in May, after graduation. With 250 seniors, plus all the juniors applying for internships/research and other competitive summer programs, the logistics are daunting.</p>
<p>Be sure to track that all documentation is sent to all the schools. Be kind and helpful to the support people who are coordinating all the logistics - at some point you will need their help. Don’t underestimate their role.</p>
<p>D was planning on asking 2 teachers and GC to fill out the Common App rec, and that’s the one that will get sent to all schools. Looking at the non-Common App schools’ applications, their rec forms are virtually identical to the Common App anyway.</p>
<p>I’ve found that if you talk to admissions folks, they are pretty understanding about the demands put on teachers and guidance offices, and pretty good about not “blaming” the student if a teacher or counselor doesn’t do things exactly the way the college prefers. They know that this stuff is out of the kids’ hands.</p>