Teacher Recommendations

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Hey CCers, esp those who got into Harvard and have read or know what their teachers wrote for their recs,</p>

<p>I was just wondering...what kind of things do teachers write for you in their recs and what is considered as an excellent teacher rec? </p>

<p>Most importantly, for the "Ratings" part (the tick-box chart with personal/intellectual quantities), did your teacher give you mostly "Outstanding (top 5%)"? Do excellent students (esp those admitted to Harvard) usually get mostly the "One of the top few encountered in my career" ticked or is this it considered to be a great recommendation just to receive a few of this rating ticked?</p>

<p>THANKS!</p>

2

<p>I never read my teacher recommendations (I waived my right to do so) but I am pretty sure that the "Ratings" part hardly matters compared to the written recommendation. (No, not how well written it is, but the actual substance of the recommendation.)</p>

3

<p>My teacher recommendations were pretty poor, I'm from The Netherlands and teachers are not used to writing more than a paragraph about a student. So one teacher basically wrote: he is a good student, etc. not more than one paragraph, and the other teacher wrote a page-long recommendation which was nice. But the recommendations were not as over-the-moon as US recommendations normally are. They didn't once tick "one of the top few encountered in my career". Still I got in...</p>

4

<p>So the length of the letter shouldn’t matter so much? My teacher just recently showed me the letter he wrote and it was only 300 words :/</p>

5

<p>I read somewhere (a Stanford grad’s blog) that to be competitive, you need teachers who will check off the “top 1%” straight down the list.</p>

<p>NOT my opinion, but it makes sense.</p>

<p>Edit: it’s “pricklypear” on wordpress, but you need an account to see it.</p>

6

<p>
[QUOTE=jiess]

I read somewhere (a Stanford grad’s blog) that to be competitive, you need teachers who will check off the “top 1%” straight down the list.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Absolutely disagree. The written letter is far more important than the boxes, and there can only be so many students who were in the “top 1%” of a teacher’s history.</p>

7

<p>Like I said, it isn’t my opinion, and trust me, I’d much rather you be right than that Stanford grad.</p>

8

<p>I don’t think you HAVE to have top 1%. It’s a subjective rating and one teacher’s idea of “outstanding top 5%” could be another teacher’s idea of “top 1%” It is what’s written in the letter that matters. Well…as long as you don’t have any “below average” checked off lol…</p>

9

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</p>

<p>Um, there are a lot of spaces to check between top 1% and below average. lol
Your statement totally trivializes the role of those boxes.</p>

<p>Also, in general, what are really solid things a teacher can say about a student? Deep curiosity to learn? Very motivated? Helpful? I mean, everything ends up sounding so generic these days I wonder what some of the accepted students’ recs were like…</p>

10

<p>good recommendations give some specific anecdotes about the student.</p>

<p>I directed one of my teachers to a lot of literature on good teacher recs when I asked her to write me one. She said it helped a lot (and I got into Columbia).</p>

<p>If you’re afraid your teacher will be cliched or won’t know how to write a good one don’t be afraid to give them advice. It helps all parties involved :P</p>

11

<p>Ya, too late for me now</p>

<p>Also, even if it weren’t too late, i’d feel weird telling what my teachers what to do.</p>

12

<p>I made a list of all the (good) things I did in my teacher’s class, to remind them, along with a list of what I thought were keywords necessary to mention. One of them didn’t seem happy getting the list :stuck_out_tongue: the other one said he really appreciated it. </p>

<p>I am really bossy.</p>

13

<p>I did prepare my resume, stuff i remember from his class, some of my essays for him to look at/reference.</p>

<p>He apparently didn’t use any of it.</p>

14

<p>^ Ooh, ah. I’m sure he already had grand, grand plans for that letter, don’t worry.</p>

15

<p>I wouldn’t suggest just handing them that stuff. Ask if they need it first!</p>

16

<p>Yeah, I’d probably ask first if they’d find a list like that helpful…offering your help is better than forcing it on them.</p>

17

<p>lol, I read some of my recommendations through the envelope by holding them up to a light!!! They were amazing!</p>

18

<p>Well i just handed the stuff over–it wasn’t like i “forced” him to use it lol</p>

<p>What exactly is “amazing” anyway</p>

19

<p>^ Well, I had a recommender write, “Butternut is the kind of individual one expects to accomplish great things in life”. :D</p>

20

<p>What usually makes a good rec, anyway?</p>