Even though CSUs and UCs don’t accept LoR, that doesn’t mean California high school students don’t need them. They may be applying to OOS schools too, even if they end up at an instate school. They may be applying for scholarships, internships, jobs, doing something ‘alternative’ for a year and want the letters for when they return.
My kids didn’t need the letters for admissions but did need them for scholarships. They were lucky that there weren’t as many rules like needing a STEM and a humanities letter, or not being able to use outside recommenders.
Mine were lucky to go to a prep school with superb letters, but I have no problem with public school teachers asking students to provide drafts to them. Teachers are not paid for these letters and they can take a lot of time. The signer can always modify the draft before signing if they wish
No one is writing more that a few. Most of those do not require LORs.
The Common App is designed to gather the LORs and send the same two to all colleges. Naviance allows for the teacher to upload there and it pairs with the Common App.
Only a few colleges require separate submissions, such as MIT.
I teach at a large competitive high school. I teach juniors who are in the highest level of acceleration for the subject. A vast majority of them choose a college major either in my subject area or one that is closely related to it. For that reason, I get around 30 requests for LOR’s each year. Unless the request comes from a student who clearly didn’t perform well in my class, I will write the letter for them. That happens very rarely. I have colleagues who cap their number of LOR’s at 10 or fewer. Our school doesn’t have a clear written policy for faculty in terms of how we respond to these requests. These letters take a LONG time to write, especially knowing that my students are applying to reach schools. I write them because I see this as part of my job and my students are important to me. I could not imagine asking a student to write the letter themselves.
UPDATE - S24 continued to deal with a ton of stress trying to get 1 LOR submitted for his application.
The computer teacher left the school over the summer. S24 did some google sleuthing and managed to locate the teacher at a different school district. In early August the Computer teacher responded to him saying he would be happy to still write him a letter. After that the teacher just ghosted him. No response to any emails at all trying to get him added to the school Naviance. Last week S24 decided he needed to move on to Plan B.
The AP history teacher is not back from maternity leave, the 10th grade Chemistry teacher is dealing with a sick mom and doesn’t have time to write letters now and his AP World History teacher told him it would be better to ask an 11th grade teacher.
The 11th grade Math teacher stood firm about his no letters for anyone policy. Thankfully S24 explained the situation to his 11th grade English teacher and she decided to make an exception to her NO-STEM majors policy. The English teacher is a lovely and kind person, so she would never write a damaging LOR for any kid. Today S24 saw that she has submitted his letter to Naviance. He is so relieved!
I am really starting to appreciate why the UCs don’t require LORs.
I hope the students share their LOR experience with the principal or school counselor at some point. One LOR may seem inconsequential and the teachers figure someone else will do it, but that English teacher is going to end up doing more than her share. School leadership could help figure out a way to tackle this that is equitable for the students and the teachers.
Common App and Naviance have simplified the process so much. And many colleges no longer require a letter, because of the inequities just like this. So the number of letters for colleges has honestly gone down.
It is really the funky scholarship LORs and recommendation forms that require different levels of customization that take the most time now.
I am writing months after this post to say THANK YOU! I can’t believe how hard it was for my daughter to find a recommender. Out of 9-12th grade teachers, 7 teachers left the school, 5 imposed caps that were filled long before senior year, and 2 never write letters. This left only elective teachers and teachers who only teach seniors (to ask in the fall if you are lucky enough to make a meaningful connection). My parents were both teachers and I have been stunned at the attitude of the bulk of teachers in our “college prep” high school. Even though I do not know you, I appreciate the time you take on those 30 letters, the lives you have impacted, and the time you took to post here.