<p>I have noticed that a lot of colleges put emphasis on the quality of your recommendations. I am just kind of afraid that when I ask teachers to write me letters of recommendation, that they will just kind of forget about it or write something kind of mediocre because they A: have homework and quizzes to grade and whatnot and B: they have so many students and they honestly probably don't notice or care about the effort of one of the hundred students that they have to teach. </p>
<p>I guess that what I am asking is, how can I make sure that teachers write a good recommendation, one that shows I am passionate about not only my studies, but also about attending the universities that I apply to? I have had some bad experience with recommendations in the past (I needed a recommendation for National Honors Society and I had to get one from my volunteer coordinator. I gave her this bright orange sheet with all of the info, had her sign stuff ensuring that she would do it, and then I get a rejection letter from the admissions committee that I had a lack of recommendation). Any advice?</p>
<p>Make a list of the teachers you’d like to ask for recommendations, then practice saying, “Hi Ms./Mr. Jones! I’m putting my college list together and right now it includes College A, College B, and University C. Do you feel that you could write a good letter of recommendation for me for these institutions?”</p>
<p>If the response is negative, thank them for their time, and move on to the next person on your list. </p>
<p>If the response is positive, ask, “What information do you need from me, and how much lead time do you need for each letter?”</p>
<p>Then make sure that they get the forms in plenty of time so they actually can get the letters written and delivered before the deadlines.</p>
<p>Well, you have to remember that everyone else applying is in the same boat and probably has similar teachers. Your concerns are legitamite, and I think there are two things you can do to mitigate them. First, ask early, the more time you give your teachers the better they can develop their thoughts about you and they will appreciate you thinking of how much work they have. Second, make a good choice as to which teachers to ask. Don’t ask two teachers that don’t know you well or have not seen you perform at your fullest.</p>
<p>You should pick two teachers who know you intimately, preferrably in a capacity other than as a student. It may be advantageous to pick a teacher who is also a club advisor, or with whom you have worked on a project outside of school (or even just a teacher you chat with outside of class). </p>
<p>You should email the teachers you want to write your recs ASAP or before the rush for recs in September. Create a resume to give your teachers an idea of who you are as a whole (my French teacher, for example, knew I was a writer and had written recs for writing programs but didn’t know awards I’d won, that I was editor of Lit Mag, etc).</p>
<p>thank you all for the information…it makes me feel less nervous about getting good recommendations. However, I still had a question. I am applying to several universities, and I know that it is probably asking alot for teachers to fill out recommendation papers for all of those universities. Any advice for that?</p>
<p>One thing you should definitely do is give your teachers addressed and stamped envelopes for all the colleges to which you’re asking them to send recommendations. This will save them time and money, and will show them that you are considerate and appreciative. </p>
<p>Like students, teachers often use the same descriptions/essays for all of your recommendations since most of them ask the same questions about character, drive, enthusiasm, etc. To be sure that they have time to fill out the rest of the recommendation, ask them well ahead of time. The earlier the better, so that they have time to complete it before they have tons of others to do. (When I asked for recs, I did it at the end of my junior year so that they had the summer to complete them.)</p>
<p>^ Also talk to your GC because usually schools have a process for figuring our recs. At my school transcript and recs all go out together in one envelope to colleges, and the teachers email the rec to my GC to print and address.</p>