Teacher Recommendations

Applying to College
1

<p>I've been thinking of what two teachers to choose, being as that I have 3 wonderful options.</p>

<p>My three options are:
(1) My English teacher, whom I've known for actually 4-5 years now. (: He was actually my tutor before he was my high school English teacher, and this would be my second year with him as just as HS teacher. He was even our advisor to a club I'm very fond and involved with, JSA, for the first 2 years.</p>

<p>(2) My Journalism/newspaper advisor. This is the 3rd year he'll have me; the first year, as a journalism student, the next two as a graphics editor for the newspaper. The sheer number of hours I spend with him (and the rest of the staff) allowed him to know me well, I think.</p>

<p>(3) My Korean teacher. She retired from our school just this past summer, but I heard that it's still possible to get recommendations from retired teachers. She's just WONDERFUL; I'm loyal to her (in fact, I lost a friend because she insulted my teacher and the whole Korean program -_-), and she likes me about as much, I think. I had 3 years of Korean class with her, but every recommendation I asked her for before (for scholarships) was glowing. </p>

<p>Now, the pros/cons with these teachers are...
(1) I was actually not that great of a student when he tutored me in 7th/8th grade (and a bit in 10th grade). I forgot my homework sometimes, and I had a habit of being unable to finish the essays he assigned me every week outside of class. I wasn't like this in school (I was in the top 5 students, I believe), of course. But we're very much close, and I've improved from being that not-great-student to a pretty motivated one now.</p>

<p>(2) He first knew me in my worst state possible: I was a horrid little monster in my sophomore year, as I honestly didn't care about school then. I had taken Journalism then because the newspaper was something I was personally interested in (-_- not because "oh, it'll look good on my resume" like many others in my class thought). Anyways, cutting to the chase, I wasn't the best student in his Journalism class: I was pretty much a B student. But I've shown him that I'm a hard worker on staff; I'm always the last one leaving, and this year, I'm the one with the EIC and managing editor planning and organizing things, even if I'm 'just' the graphics editor. We do get grades for newspaper production, based on how hard we've been working, and I've been getting A+s. And he's a USC alumni, and I'm sure he'd be avid that I had USC on my list; I'm sure he'd write an at least okay rec.</p>

<p>(3) She's wonderful, like I said. :) She wrote glowing recs. But I'm worried because (a) she's retired (b) she's a Korean; heard rumors that adcoms don't like something like this? like, Koreans writing recs for fellow Koreans? (b) I slightly wonder if her recs would be kind of generic. :|</p>

<p>Anyways. I thinking of my English teacher and newspaper advisor for my recs, but I'd rather have second (and third) opinions before I formally ask them for recs.</p>

2

<p>I would say the English and Korean teachers, although you may opt to replace the the English teacher with the journalism teacher for the USC app. Do you have the option of having the journalism teacher write a supplemental rec? (not all colleges look at journalism as an "academic" subject -- check with your list of schools)</p>

<p>You're very lucky to have three wonderful choices. If you do indeed consider asking all three of them, just ask yourself if they could all say something different about you. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>I agree with Avalon. Most colleges want recommendations from teachers in academic subjects, and journalism probably doesn't qualify. With that said, however, my journalism teacher is writing a rec... but I had her 10th grade for Honors/Pre-IB English and 10th, 11th, and 12th grade for Journalism. So in my case, she was an academic teacher at one point. If you want, get your journalism teacher to write a supplemental rec, but i'm not sure if this will be necessary... your English teacher will probably mention your extracurricular involvement in JSA, so at least the colleges will know you're involved.</p>

4

<p>Maybe I should've been more fair to my journalism advisor; it's not that I think he'll write a bad rec. He would probably describe me as a hard worker, etc now; he can probably note a upward trend of improvement, which is definitely something I need my recs to note. He can definitely refer back to specific times, during productions.
Whereas my Korean teacher might not be able to note some specific events, and she might just write "she was an excellent studentall 4 years I taught her."
Which is nice, but not something I really need. I need something to support my upward trend in my transcript.</p>

<p>Well, anyways. Based on what you guys said, I should first probably find out if the colleges I'm applying to consider journalism an academic subject.</p>

<p>But what is this supplemental rec you guys are talking about?</p>

5

<p>So there's the required 2 teacher recs, which come from academic instructors. Most colleges have a comment in their application booklet or on their website about sending in additional materials -- whether they be resumes, extra essays, extra recs. Often the supplemental (read: super-optional) rec is written by someone from outside your school (i.e., an employer), although it's acceptable to ask a teacher to write it for you if you think he/she can add something new to your profile.</p>

<p>"Well, anyways. Based on what you guys said, I should first probably find out if the colleges I'm applying to consider journalism an academic subject."</p>

<p>Yes, find out, and go with your gut feeling (but ask your teachers soon if you're applying early).</p>

6

<p>._. Hm. I've heard the story of the more recs you have, the more superficial you seem, or the more the adcoms look at you with a displeased eye...</p>

<p>Well, my GC discouraged me from early, so I have more time. :\ Wellesley is my first choice, but GC persuaded me away from ED. And I guess he's right, as I need financial aid...</p>

<p>Hm. So the point of this is, more recs = less favorable in adcoms' eyes?</p>