What's a good letter of recommendation?

Applying to College
1

<p>So, one of my teachers has agreed to let me see the letter of recommendation which they wrote for the Common Application.</p>

<p>I'm applying to top schools (Princeton, Dartmouth, etc.) and am freaking out about elements of my application. In particular, i want to know what's considered a good letter of recommendation for this caliber of schools.</p>

<p>Like, what do you look at? Should there be no mentions of faults? Do I need to have ratings in the "outstanding" category? Is it fine if my overall rating is only "excellent?"</p>

2

<p>Frankly I think you should thank the teacher for letting you see the letter of recommendation but pass on the offer. The letter is likely to be better, more honest, and more convincing if its not written with your review in mind.</p>

3

<p>im too lazy to post you the link(ive to find it out). check out MIT’s admissions page, they have a beautiful detailed article on what to write and what not to in a recommendation letter.</p>

4

<p>

Why would that be? I don’t see why a teacher would give me better ratings if they knew I would be reviewing.</p>

<p>Still, I think I might very well do so. However, it’s too late to ask any of my senior-year teachers. Would it be permissable to ask someone from sophomore or freshman year?</p>

<p>

Thanks, found it: [Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>

5

<p>I would like to know about this also. My counselor had never filled out a common app form before so I helped her with a lot of it. (yeah my school is that small). Bottom line, I know what she put on each section…I’d like to know what is a good letter though.</p>

6

<p>Anyone else? Would it be okay to ask a teacher from sophomore year if she would provide a better recommendation?</p>

7

<p>In reply to your comment:</p>

<p>“Why would that be? I don’t see why a teacher would give me better ratings if they knew I would be reviewing.”</p>

<p>My sense is that you’re seeing recommendation letters as one-dimensional – “good rating” versus “bad rating”. What you may be missing is that recommendation letters need to be convincing. They can describe how a student has grown, how they’ve learned from their mistakes, how their in-class arguments have progressed from sophomoric to sophisticated, etc. When a letter is open to review by the person it reviews some teachers would tone down the subtleties. They may in fact provide you with a “he’s great” perfunctory letter. Such a letter while it may sound good to you has little impact. Admissions committees understand all the subtlety.</p>

<p>In response to you your second question. Get letters from your most recent teachers – junior year or senior year. I assume that you’ve grown since your freshman and sophomore years, and, in any case, almost all colleges are very specific about this point.</p>