<p>What does Chicago consider an "academic subject"?</p>
<p>When my daughter applied a couple of years ago, the two recommendations had to be from a science or math teacher AND an English or social studies teacher.</p>
<p>The requirements have changed since MDMom’s daughter has applied- you no longer need recommendations strictly from one science/math and one history/english teacher, although it is definitely wise to think about asking teachers in different subjects to write you recs to show diversity of interest and ability. While you may want to check with your regional counselor if you have specific questions about who does and who does not qualify, “academic subject” teachers are teachers in things like math, science, history, or English- basically courses in which you would have written papers or done problem sets and lab reports- while teachers who wouldn’t qualify are advisers for school newspaper, band/orchestra teachers, PE instructors, etc. That doesn’t mean that they can’t write you a rec, though- if you were really close with your band teacher, for example, you can certainly ask him or her to write you a supplemental recommendation, but you should stick with academic subjects for the two required recs.</p>
<p>Look at it from the other side. They want a recommendation letter from a teacher who can address the kinds of things that are important to your success as a student at the University of Chicago (or any other elite research university). That means, above all, your analytic ability, your ability to master volumes of new material quickly, your ability to write well, think logically, etc. It would be rare that, say, a music teacher or a dance teacher could really speak to those qualities in a student. So getting a glowing recommendation from a music teacher may not actually help you much.</p>
<p>Basically, I would assume that “academic subject” means, mainly, math, any lab science, any social science, English, history, philosophy. Foreign language is often a tough call – teachers in AP literature classes would certainly qualify, but teachers of first-year memorization fests don’t really. History of art or music theory, probably, studio art or music performance, no.</p>
<p>“academic subject” has no obvious meaning. Why don’t you simply inquire?</p>