<p>Hi,
it's going to be my senior year, and I already know that I am going to ask my Honors/AP bio teacher of two years to write me a rec.
However, I have a tougher time deciding on the other rec. My choices right now are either to have my next year AP English teacher write one or my next year AP French teacher.
I had my English teacher for half a year of American Lit, which I did very well in (95), however, I do not like to participate much in class, because I clam up during discussion quizzes. But I do generally give good responses when called upon. I test well, and I write good essays, in my opinion. Though my teacher does know that I procrastinate as she found me reading the first 30 pages of a book that was to be done a little less than a week later.. but she was playfully upset about it.
I've had my French teacher since sophomore year. I do well in her class.. but she is an arbritrary teacher. She often has problems coming up with grades, and the students try to reasonably discuss it with her, she takes it as a personal offense. I also spent this summer in France with her for 10 days on a student France trip. I don't really participate too much in French either.. and another drawback would be that one time, me and another friend worked on a packet together and put down the same answers and she was upset about it, and considered it plagarism... but she let us off the hook with a 10 point deduction each cause we're two of her best students. Her English is not to well, and she says some awkward things at times. When I asked her to write my NHS rec, she wrote "her lack of leadership should not be looked upon as a flaw but rather as a cultural difference" because I'm Chinese.
So at this point, I don't know who would be the better one to ask for a rec from.
... I guess it boils down to the teacher who doesn't know me as well, the generic stuff, or the teacher who knows me well but might not write the nicest things.. or may have good intentions but they come out wrong on paper.</p>
<p>Feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>I'd go with the English teacher. Plus I'm tempted to say English teachers plain write better..</p>
<p>lol that's true...
thank you.</p>
<p>more feedback is much welcomed!</p>
<p>both... just send both recs in.</p>
<p>English teacher- You still have time to impress her before she writes your recommendation, but with your French teacher no matter how much you impress her she still may word her feelings in a way that don't impress an adcom. Better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>i say the english teacher. i dont trust language teachers haha, i had a similar situation with mine, she was pretty whimsical, id be afraid she woudlnt get it in on time, but if english teachers can teach you how to write, wouldnt you think they can write well themselves? i agree with julyinoh on that one.</p>
<p>thank you...
oh I should also mention that I am applying early to Stanford...so there may not be much time to impress</p>
<p>and I also plan on getting a supp. rec from a 9th grade history teacher who's also the newspaper advisor, which I've been in since 10th grade, and will be the editor of next year..
but Stanford usually doesn't accept supp. recs... that's for other schools if I need it.</p>
<p>English teacher...sounds like you have too many past issues with the French teacher.</p>
<p>No matter who you ask, and especially in your situation, be sure to ask your teachers if they can write a strong letter for you. This IS appropriate, phrased politely of course. Every student should do this when asking for letters of rec.</p>
<p>For example, "Am I a student you would write a strong letter of reccomendation for, or do you suggest I ask someone else?" Tell the student not to argue or question why if the answer is ask someone else, simply to thank the teacher for their honest answer.</p>
<p>If you could ask every teacher your kid had for their opinion, many times the result would be mixed bag. And sometimes a teacher you assume would like a kid (due to a high grade, for example) sees things differently. There is no shame or dishonor in deliberately selecting those who hold a favorable opinion to write a rec.</p>
<p>And while it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher, it HAS to be done. In the book "The Gatekeepers" is an example of a bad rec.
[quote]
There were times, I must admit,that I thought Tiffany might have taken a stronger interest in mastering the material in our course. When I saw that Tiffany was a National Merit Semi-Finalist I was a bit surprised. While clearly bright and competent, I had seen in Tiffany neither an exceptional skill for testing nor a particular affinity for the subject.
[/quote]
This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.</p>
<p>For the OP, my personal opinion is avoid the french teacher. The sentence regarding your leadership is a well-known attack called "damning with faint praise". Google it for more info.</p>
<p>I don't see why you're even considering your French teacher.</p>
<p>okay,
thank you all very much.</p>
<p>yeah dude that french teacher is a disaster</p>
<p>"her lack of leadership should not be looked upon as a flaw but rather as a cultural difference since she's chinese"
Does anybody else on this site sense an iota of racism in this statement besides me???</p>
<p>^ People shouldn't take things so seriously.</p>
<p>takeme2cali, you can ask all of them to write letters and though you can't read them, your guidance counselor can read and decide which ones to send.</p>
<p>but anyways, you can send more than two. I had five sent to Amherst & Emory (4+guidance counselor). When I asked their admissions how many to send, they said so long as any additional letters add a different positive perspective on the applicant, then additional letters are fine, just don't send 7or 8 he said.</p>
<p>I guess it didn't hurt b/c I was admitted to both, Amherst 2010. Mine came from:</p>
<ol>
<li>Former Director of Admissions (my best letter by far, made me cry)</li>
<li>College Guidance Counselor/Advisor/English Teacher</li>
<li>Dorm Parent/Spanish/Creative Writing Teacher</li>
<li>Biology/Chemistry Teacher</li>
<li>Pastor</li>
</ol>
<p>(6th - Was not sent, former guidance counselor, wasn't really needed)
(7th - Director from Museum of Afro-American History [this was a hard decision btw her & my pastor, since I couldn't read them, gut feeling])</p>
<p>And really, it was the letter you would have appected to be just added paper that ended up being my best. I wasn't even planning on asking him, he asked me and then showed me after I was accepted.</p>
<p>So I say, get as many letters as you can. I really think they tipped my app in addition to my crazy ECs.</p>
<p>lol thanks for the advice.
oh also though... my old guidance counselor retired as of this year.. which sucks because i'll have a brand new GC to deal with my whole college process.
Would it be better for me to have my old GC write my GC rec? even though she said sometimes it's stronger if the same person who sends in my transcript and does all of that also write the GC rec.</p>