<p>Besides the letter, what columns are regarded as "good" during admissions?</p>
<p>For a \good college, or university.. is top 10 percent overall good?</p>
<p>Rule of thumb, the more outstanding credos you get the better. IMO the letter actually counts more than the ticky portion.Colleges are basically lookng whether the teacher views you as a diligent, hardworking though uninspiring presence or a creative spark in the classroom.</p>
<p>I disagree with rearset44's statement that the more outstanding the better- when it comes to the ticking boxes, I would think that it would be better to have a bit of variety in them. It simply seems much more believable that someone is "top few in career" for one or two categories with a sprinkling of "top 5%" and "top 10%"s, rather than just "top in career" for all of them. </p>
<p>Also, I would guess that it is good if there is some similarities between what a teacher tick and the rest of your application- for example, if a teacher thinks you are "best in career" or whatever for extracurricular involvement, but you have basically no ECs to speak of, then it might seem strange.</p>
<p>what she said ^^^^^^^^^6</p>
<p>Shoot. My teacher gave me "top few" for every single one. Is that actually so bad?</p>
<p>no, not that bad....just suspicious. If your application supports it then it's definitely fine..</p>
<p>All right, thanks. It might be a bit of a leap for my calculus teacher to praise my writing ability, though....</p>
<p>"for example, if a teacher thinks you are "best in career" or whatever for extracurricular involvement"</p>
<p>There is no checkbox regarding extracurricular involvement...</p>
<p>I see. I'm glad the letter is worth more. I don't think the tick boxes really matched me, but the letter did. I have some of the largest leadership positions in the school, but he said my leadership was only at the "above average" mark. I mean... I guess it's not his fault if he doesn't know what ECs I do, but I noticed that teachers don't really look or say anything in the letter in regards to the resume we provide them.</p>
<p>Well I think colleges understand that each teacher just fills out the form only having known the student in a certain setting. You got above average, but isn't that better than "no basis" for recommendation?</p>