what exactly is looked down upon in teacher recs? i understand if teacher has caught student sleeping in class, cheating, etc, but if a student is a good smart student, but is shy and does not develop any relationship with teacher and teacher writes that the student is shy, is that looked down upon in the application? how important is it in deciding if this student will be accepted or rejected, given the rest of the application (test scores + ECs) are outstanding?
Most colleges require zero rec letters. Are you sure the applicant’s target schools require them? This might be moot. For some colleges, the single rec letter is simply a formality – the bulk of the eval criteria is the transcript and test scores (very little to no weight given to ECs as well).
For the ultra competitive ones, the rec letters carry huge importance.
What’s the situation with you or your shy student acquaintance?
Most teachers try to find the most positive things they can say about students. They don’t usually bring up your less desirable traits, they just talk about something else that is positive, Note that teachers from other cultures don’t always do that (one reason to think hard before asking a foreign language teacher from another country to write a review).
Then you will probably get a bland and generic recommendation that won’t hurt but won’t help much either. The shy student, whomever they are, needs to visit the teacher during office hours and talk about what they are hoping to do academically and professionally, one on one, and what they hope the teacher will highlight in a rec. If the student is too shy to advocate for themselves one-on-one with a teacher they have had all year, then they have bigger issues to deal with than a bland letter of rec and should focus on addressing those issues.
My S was shy and got very nice letters…I’d guess that they spoke to his work ethic, success in class etc. One teacher said that she specifically mentioned that he is quiet and spoke up more and more as the year progressed. Another teacher asked him for his list of EC activities and said she would mention them in her letter. It worked out fine. I think in the end many recommendations are fairly generic.
When he asks for recommendations, it is always a good idea to ask if the teacher can write a positive recommendation just to be certain. You and your S can also talk to the guidance counselor to ask for ideas of which teachers write good recommendation letters.
In terms of will it hurt his application, that is hard to say. For the tippy top schools I’d guess that a number of applicants get very strong recommendations. It is one way to try and stand out. Other things like ECs can help one stand out as well. Perhaps ask an adviser from an EC he is very involved in to write an additional letter – hopefully that individual will know more of his personality and he can shine through that way.
Does shy mean quiet and reserved or does it mean social paralysis? If it’s the former, it’s probably less of a factor, assuming the overall academic record is strong.