Hey, I’m a junior and I have no idea who to ask for rec letters. I have pretty bad anxiety which makes it hard for me to make connections with teachers. I didn’t take freshman year seriously and in my sophomore year, I really struggled due to mental illness and almost failing several classes. Because of this, I feel like I’m left with only my junior year teachers, which is not a great scenario because I only took 5 classes this year.
Out of these, I am leaning towards asking my Physics and Calc AB teachers because I think they would be most likely to be willing to write it. For my Physics teacher, I have an A/A+ in the class, but I slacked off a lot in the beginning of the year(fell asleep in class, didn’t participate). I have really good lab grades though, and I’ve been going to extra help every week lately. Plus he’s the coach on my team. In Calc AB it’s basically the same scenario in terms of grades and slacking off. I think he would be more willing to write a letter but I don’t think he would write as well as my Physics teacher.
Also, another problem is that I don’t know how to approach the teacher. Our school doesn’t give us any resources on this; should I go up with my resume/some sort of info sheet?
Would it be bad to have two STEM teachers write my recs, rather than a STEM and a humanities? I’ll most likely apply undecided but theres a small chance I’ll choose a major in STEM, and little to no chance of me picking a humanities major.
Additionally, I’m feeling a lot of pressure from my parents because of this. At this point, I think I would be lucky to get any letters at all, no matter how generic.
I really appreciate any advice, thanks in advance.
Keep in mind that high school teachers, particularly ones who teach Juniors, are very used to writing recommendations for students. They do this all the time. Thus they should not be surprised at all if you ask.
I agree with @AroundHere that whether two STEM teachers are okay may depend upon the schools that you are applying to. Way back when I was in high school (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I think that I had one STEM teacher and my guidance counselor write recommendations. I would expect two STEM teachers to be okay for many schools but you will need to check.
@AroundHere , I have seen some schools that don’t require it, but is this one of those things that is basically required otherwise it’ll hurt your application, especially if they’re recommended or something like that?
@DadTwoGirls , Thanks, that is reassuring to hear. I’ll look further into it.
Do you have some schools in mind? If so, check their websites. Some colleges specify who should write the LORs or what subject areas they should be from. In general, yes, it is better to have one STEM and one humanities (usually English).
You can just ask the teacher if they will write a LOR for you. They may not need any notes from you because they will be writing from the vantage point of you being their student, but you can ask if they would like any more background information on you.
@alooknac , yes, I checked some, thank you. For example, I checked Northeastern but I can’t really find anything, not even the number necessary. All I was able to find was where it just said that “Guidance counselor and teacher recommendations” are required. I assume that means specific subjects aren’t necessary, but the number of teacher recommendations is unclear : /
I like what you mentioned about background information. For some reason, this whole time I was stumped on how to give more info through email or other means, but I think your advice of simply offering makes a lot more sense. Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it!
First and foremost, don’t sweat the shy thing. Those of us who have been in the classroom a while are very used to writing letters for kids like you. There’s far, far more to being a good student than being shy.
As far as asking teachers goes, we’re used to that too. If a Junior I’m not teaching even approaches me at this point in the year, I KNOW it’s about a letter. Don’t sweat the request. Just stop by before or after school and say “Hi Mrs. M. I was wondering whether you would write a college recommendation letter for me.” It’s as simple as that.
If your school doesn’t provide any resources, then I strongly suggest you write up a “brag sheet” of sorts. This is not the time for humility! Include all your activities-- in school and through your neighborhood or church. Include any part time jobs. Talk a bit about your work in the class-- any projects you found particularly interesting. Include your possible plans… what you think you’ll major in and what you see yourself doing in 10 years.
All that info will help the teacher write a more well rounded letter.
Ask 2 teaches, since some schools will want 2 plus your counselor letter.
Above all, do not worry about this part of the process!!! This is your first time though, but as teachers it’s simply that time of year. Writing those letters is a part of our job, so please don’t feel as though you’re imposing on your teachers. As long as you’re respectful in your request and leave plenty of time-- so a request now is perfect-- I’m confident you’ll get the letters you deserve.
I second the brag sheet. Our school had a form that they had students fill out in Junior year and they were told to give it to recommenders. My S also offered to set up a time to meet with each teacher to discuss and they both took him up on it. They asked him questions about his activities outside of class and I think it helped them write better recs.
I would try to ask them as soon as possible. I know many of the teachers put a limit on how many recs they will write so you don’t want to be the last student asking them.
My S was shy and was fine asking teachers for letters of recommendation. I would first ask the teacher if he/she would be willing to write a positive letter of recommendation for your college application. If the teacher says yes, then thank him/her and follow-up by asking if you can supply anything to help him/her write the letter such as a resume or list of your activities. Different teachers may ask for different things to help them write the letter (ex. one of my S’s teachers prepared a form for students fill out asking about accomplishments specific to the class she taught, one of my D’s teachers didn’t want a full resume but just a list of EC activities etc.) I think it could come off as a bit presumptuous to show up with the brag sheet in hand (assumes the teacher will say yes to your request and wants the information you chose to provide however your formatted it).
@happy1 If I’m understanding you correctly, I should ask, and if they accept, offer to give more information, and supply said information the next day/another time? If so, then I see your point. I definitely don’t want to be too forward.
@unlike2877 , please don’t be nervous about asking any teacher you choose for a recommendation. Teachers are on your team. They want the kids they teach to go on to college and to succeed. You don’t need to convince them to be kind to you. Just follow the suggestions above and you will be fine.
Both of my kids approached it by bringing any additional information the teacher wanted in a follow-up visit. Some teachers didn’t want any additional information and others asked for specific information in a certain form/format.
@bjkmom well…I asked my calc teacher and he said yes! I then asked if he would need any background info like a resume and he said I could give it to him in the fall. I haven’t asked my physics teacher yet, but I’m going to ask on monday. I’ll let you know what happens, hopefully he’s ok with it too!
