<p>Kay, so they always say, "ask the teachers who know you the most," but I've also been told that I should ask one teacher from the humanities, and one from math/science. Is the latter part true, and if so, how important is it?</p>
<p>I'm a full IB Dipoma junior; I've already asked my Eng. teacher because I'm one of his top students and one of the most participatory; I plan on asking my His. teacher because she has written recs for me before for workshops and things, she's the advisor for the new community service club I started, and she's one of the IB counselors and I have shared some very personal information with her before. </p>
<p>I'm very reluctant to ask my Calc or Bio teachers because the Calc class is a) overcrowded and b) I don't know understand how I was supposed to distinguish myself as a person in that class anways; with Bio, there have been 4 (that's right, four) teachers over the course of the school year. I'm actually on pretty good terms with the current teacher. She loved my lab reports, but I do not do well in that class nor have I spoken to her outside of class. Like Calc, there's not much classroom participation either.</p>
<p>Please, give me advice on what I should do!</p>
<p>I would ask the history and english teachers unless the school you are applying to directly say to have a math or science teacher rec. It is better to have two good recs than one that is good and another that is not so good, duh.</p>
<p>Dude, I know that. My other IB counselor (and IB Phil. teacher, whom I will asking a counselor rec from) told our class that one humanities and one math/science was the way to go.</p>
<p>One humanities and one math/science is only necessary if the college itself requires it. Many schools want teachers in different “disciplines”, but you’re safe there, too - English and history are considered different “disciplines” in this context, and they are two of the five “core” academic areas (the other three being math, science and foreign language).</p>
<p>If there are no restrictions according to the college, get the recommendations from the teachers you think will write you the strongest letter.</p>
<p>One of my friends pulled off Cornell getting his US history teacher and Art History teacher to write recommendations. It can be done. However, I recall UChicago requireing one humanities/social science teacher and one math/science teacher.</p>
<p>My son had 3 teachers write recs and mixed and matched them. Some colleges were specific that they wanted a humanities rec and a math/science rec, so he supplied them what they wanted. It did not seem to make any difference in his acceptances. You might be surprised who writes better recs. I know one teacher who was so adored in a school really was not a very good writer, and her recs tended to be sparse. Another teacher I know who has a rather grim personality and recommendation knows exactly what colleges like in terms of recs and she spends a lot of time making sure she gets it right. The kids who got recs from her were so fortunate.</p>
<p>Unless it’s specifically says to ask from two disciplines, ask the teachers you know the best! You want the most flattering recs, and you won’t get any advantage by asking for a rec from math/science if that won’t be as accurate as your humanities recs.</p>