So, I’ve currently a junior and I’ve already asked my teachers to write their letters of rec for me (the process happens early at my school). My AP English Lang teacher, after enthusiastically agreeing to write one for me, sent me a survey basically asking what I want her to write with specific examples from her class. I suspect that much of my recommendation will be derived from what I put on this form. So, my question is, what kinds of things should a teacher be writing to make me a competitive candidate for top schools?
bump
Teachers who are not experienced in writing recommendations may want to read this:
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/parents-educators/writingrecs/
I was going to post what @ucbalumnus did as well
Yes, that the best explanation I’ve seen too.
I’ll add if a teacher asks you for a lot of information they will probably go the extra mile. My son’s APUSH teacher for example, in addition to more normal questions like where are you applying and why, and what do you think your major might be, asked the kids to say what their favorite text had been and why. It gave him I think extra insight into the way his students thought beyond what he already knew from their classwork.
Also my younger son got a fabulous one from his math teacher (who didn’t ask for any extra info). My son did not have perfect grades in math because he ran out of time on tests, but he really had a good mathematical mind and the teacher spoke about it.
@mathhappy Read the article that @ucbalumnus sent you and use it to aid you in choosing your ‘specific example’.
Resist using the example of the A+ grade, or the best paper in the class. Rather, choose an example where, like the article states, you were intellectually challenged and you took risks. Maybe you didn’t get a perfect grade, but perhaps you learned and you grew.
Good luck!
Thanks @bopper, @STEM2017, and @ucbalumnus for that excellent article! I’ll try to incorporate as much from that as possible in my responses. However, I’m still struggling a little with how to respond to two of the questions:
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She asked about what I’ve contributed to my school/community. I have a lot to say about this, but I was planning on having my guidance counselor reference these things in her recommendation because she doesn’t know me nearly as well (and therefore may not have as many personal examples to draw on) and I think that statements like “mathhappy changed our school for the better” may be more powerful coming from her because she sees more students and all that. How should I approach this? I don’t want there to be too much overlap between the letters, so should I split up my areas of impact between the two or is there a different route I can/should take?
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She asked about any “relative weaknesses” I might have experienced while taking her course. The thing is, I don’t really know what to write here. While I’m of course not a perfect reader/writer/thinker and have learned A LOT in her class, I can’t think of any specific times (in this class) when I struggled through something and grew as a result of it. At the same time, I don’t want to put any struggles that I have experienced and haven’t learned anything from because that would ruin the tone of the letter. Any advice here?
Thanks again guys! I am continually impressed with the wisdom and kindness of the CC community.
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It won’t hurt to have them mentioned again…maybe she can talk about how she saw that in the classroom? Like if you led a volunteer effort, does she see that leadership in the classroom too?
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Do you have to put effort into organizing yourself? Or do you have trouble with spontaneity?
Do you have problems with public speaking? or can you not let others get a turn to talk?
A stand-out teacher recommendation is that of a veteran teacher (>10 years) that says that you are the best student that they’ve ever had. Admittedly, that’s a pretty high bar.
Definitely having a teacher talk about how you have had a positive impact in the classroom, school community, or community at large would be helpful (even if the counselor also addresses this, having a teacher mention it in the recommendation serves to confirm the impact you’ve made.)
For strengths, highlight creativity and collaboration (esp. if you have leadership outside the classroom). For weaknesses, give examples of areas in which you’d like to see growth.
Usually recommendations that say any of the following or something similar are considered top-notch:
The student is one of the best students I have ever taught (coming from an experienced teacher)
The student actively engages the entire class by asking thought provoking questions that prompt further insightful discussion, helps other students with the material, and makes my teaching experience much more enjoyable
The student, despite specific hardships, continues to strive for academic excellence (as evidenced by learning content outside what is normally taught in class), works for the betterment of the community (specific actions), and is a true leader in real life, etc…
The student has very admirable qualities that are rarely seen (followed by specific anecdotes), etc.
Really any recommendation that goes into detail about you as a person and highlight your best aspects is going to be excellent. Be mindful of teachers who use a generic letter of recommendation formula for every student. You want it to be as unique as possible.
What I like to see from a kid is some concrete examples of things that happened. Tell me about the topic that made you rethink how much you hated math. Or the day that… Or the class discussion that…
Tell me about what you do outside class. About your part time job. About the Irish Step Dance lessons you’ve taken since you were 8. About the volunteer work you do. About the changes you hope to make in the world, and about how you’ve started to work on those changes on some small scale.
What I don’t want to see is a list of the reasons you chose me to write the letter. Thanks for the compliments-- I’m honestly glad that you liked me and that you liked my class. But it doesn’t help me to write a letter that will make a difference for you.
I will have no problem writing about all you did and were in my classroom. But I don’t want your letter to make you appear one dimensional, as though my math class is all you did for the time you were in school. If you give me a fuller picture of who you are, I can choose the details I want to paint that fuller picture in my letter.