<p>Is there a 'too early' to fill out/send out teacher recommendations? If so, when should they be sent? Granted, I'll be aplying EDI for the class of 2014. I thought that Davidson would just keep a file on you and keep building it as you add more. The only reasons I would send it so early is that after this next six weeks end, both teachers I plan on asking will become very very busy, and then it will be summer. And when school is back in session it will have been a couple of months since I have had them (Both are my teachers this year: junior).</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Ask them in the fall when you get back. Give them the recommendation forms (Common App) well in advance, don't forget to sign the forms, and it's usually better to check the box that lets them know you'll never be able to see the rec unless they give permission. You will only need two or three teacher recommendations, so don't worry about bulking up on them.</p>
<p>Don't worry about them forgetting you- here's what I did. When you ask them for the rec in the fall of your sr. year, give them a letter thanking them, but in addition, remind of what you did in their class that you were particularly proud of. It also doesn't hurt to give them a copy of your resume, but remind them also that the school will be getting a copy of it anyway so that they don't just put in the letter, "so-and-so did x activity, y activity and z-activity. they were very involved blah blah".
It's common courtesy to write a thank you note, and they'll be grateful that you "wrote" the letter for them.</p>
<p>Ohh, is the begining of senior year more preferred? Since its closer to the actual evalutation of the applicant its understandable :/</p>
<p>It's not too early to ASK your teachers; in fact, they like having a heads up, and this way they can write it over the summer if they want to. Note that sometimes different colleges have different forms, which is why some people like to wait until they know exactly where they are applying and give the teachers all of the forms at once </p>
<p>When you ask, make sure to make a folder for your teacher with:
- form that they need to fill out
- activity list/resume
- what you think your greatest successes were in that class (reasons why your teacher should remember you and write good things about you), why you enjoyed the class, etc, so you can jog your teacher's memory</p>
<p>It might be better to have them wait and send it in the fall, but I think they would appreciate having the heads up (also -- since you're asking earlier, they'll be more inclined to spend more time on yours)</p>
<p>I asked my two teachers this year because some teachers have a quota that they don't like to go past. Both of them were happy to do them and sounded excited to write them. We also have a form where we list the colleges that we are applying to and that has a space for notes on what we might like them to mention in the letter.</p>