<p>I don't want to shove in my teachers' face the rec form for MIT right when school starts but I also do not want to be too late. When is a good time to give the recs out and what should I say !?!</p>
<p>How soon do you want them submitted? My son went through this last year for his early decision application (not to MIT - his interests and abilities lie elsewhere). He asked them a week or 2 into the school year. The best teachers were already deep into recommendation requests and they have to pace themselves to not spend all their time working on letters. </p>
<p>I would email or call the teachers you intend to ask NOW. Let them know the deadline and let them tell you what they can do. At a minimum, ask them as early in the school year as possible. Note that if you are applying RD, they will likely give priority to your classmates with ED or EA deadlines sooner than yours. Regardless, I do not recommend waiting.</p>
<p>As to how to ask, they’ve all done this before and are expecting to hear from their seniors. Your teachers will be proud you’re applying to MIT and asked them to be part of your experience. My son’s teachers were all happy when he asked them, and were generally expecting him to ask them. Good luck!</p>
<p>At the end of my junior year, I asked a number of my teachers when I should ask them for recommendations (and of course, IF they would write me one). I think that was a good way to start, but since that time’s already passed, I would ask maybe a week or two into the school year. (Most of my teachers didn’t want all the paperwork until my senior year anyway.) </p>
<p>After getting some sort of a time/confirmation, I put together all the paperwork, along with a letter detailing deadlines, colleges, majors, etc., etc. I paper clipped the entire thing together, and handed it off to my respective teachers with a big evil grin. :D</p>
<p>As for what to say.. not much. “Will you write me a recommendation for college?” and “Here’s all the paperwork for writing me a recommendation. I included a letter to explain some of the details.” seemed to serve me well.</p>
<p>I asked my teachers at the end of junior year if they would write recommendations for me, and over the summer, I drafted a letter that basically described my aspirations, what I was looking for in a school, what I was interested in, and most importantly, a list of my activities with a brief description of each one.</p>
<p>Around the beginning of the school year, I gave my teachers a folder with envelopes and forms for each school. I additionally included some material from MIT (my first choice) that said what it looked for in teacher recommendations and in its applicants.</p>
<p>This worked totally fine until I presented my teachers with another huge folder of recommendations and envelopes right before winter break. Don’t do that.</p>
<p>The most important things to remember: be organized, make it easy on your teachers, and include addressed, stamped envelopes!</p>
<p>The sooner, the better - all my teachers told us that they appreciate having more time to complete them =). It shouldn’t be uncomfortable to ask from teachers you know well - one, they’re expecting it, two, hopefully they think you’re awesome =D.</p>
<p>So besides giving teachers the rec. form and a stamped addressed envelope, I should also give them a live of the ECs, my intended major, and what I look for in a school?</p>
<p>When you ask a teacher for a LOR, try to nicely ask “would you be able to write me a positive rec?” This will give the teacher a chance to politely decline if he/she won’t write a glowing report. I agree the time to ask is now; they’ll just get busier as time goes on.</p>
<p>If the teacher doesn’t know you well, then provide him/her with a list of awards, extracurriculars, interests, GPA, class rank, etc. If the teacher asks you what to focus on, reply that it’s best to talk about something OTHER than those supplied items; schools want the teachers to add something not already obvious in the application. </p>
<p>Make sure you check each school’s policy; MIT asks for two inc. science/math, but other schools ask for only one teacher in any field.</p>
<p>I think MIT asks for one teacher in the Math/Science field and one in the Humanities.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be a bad idea to give your teachers a list of your ECs and interests because then she/he would just use that and not come up with something totally original that wouldn’t already be on your application, such as your enthusiasm in class or sense of humor.</p>
<p>I think you need to give your teachers a bit more credit - they’re not going to just restate your extracurriculars (or, if they do, they’re not very good at writing recommendations). Teachers often have more students than just you and don’t know everything that you’re involved in. My French teacher, for example, didn’t know what a lot of my activities were, because I would only mention them in passing during our ‘what did you do last weekend’ discussions. My AP Bio teacher had taught me during junior year, so the list of activities was nice to keep him updated on what I had done in my senior year.</p>
<p>And yes, MIT does require one recommendation from a humanities teacher and one from a math/science teacher.</p>
<p>Its better to give your teacher more time than less.
I asked my teachers at the end of junior year to get a spot on their list (some teachers stop accepting rec in the middle of the semester before they have too many to write.</p>