So let’s do a little poll. Just say who wrote your letters of recommendation and why…
My sister:
Counselor
Chem Honors Teacher/Science Olympiad Coach
Me <em>next year</em>
US Senator ( 
)
Bishop of my church
English AP Teacher
Euro AP/APUSH Teacher/Model UN/Youth Leg Leader
<p>Senator Frist or the junior Senator?</p>
<p>As for me</p>
<p>AP English Lang/Lit Teacher
AP US History Teacher
(Counselor, duh)
ROTC Instructor</p>
<p>And for the peer rec to Dartmouth
My battalion staff.</p>
<p>Math teacher, Latin teacher, and someone who knows me very well through community work and tutoring and such. They're pretty excellent, from people who know me really well, and alumni from some of my top schools, so it's cool how that worked out.</p>
<p>My apps aren't due until next year, though, long story. I may collect more and just have the better ones sent, if that isn't inappropriate.</p>
<p>If your senator or bishop will be writing your letters, I hope those people know you very well. Colleges are not impressed by letters from high ranking people who barely know the applicants. Colleges are impressed by very low ranking people who give useful insights into an applicant's character. Thus, if one has, for instance, been a volunteer tutor to the LD child of the janitor at your school, that janitor's letter would be a better recommendation than would a recommendation by a senator who happened to have gone to college with your parents and who had dinner with you one time.</p>
<p>if the letter starts with "I don't know Jane personally, but if she's anything like her parents..." it's just going into the trash.</p>
<p>What if that letter is from an influential (and I'm going to guess that if it's from a Senator, s/he is pretty influential) alumna/us? Surely Princeton will at least read a recommendation, no matter how vague and unpersonal, from Sen. Frist?</p>
<p>Those vague, impersonal letters from Mr. or Ms. Bigshot don't count for very much at all. People like that are always asked to give letters of recommendations for people whom they barely know. They are not in a position to say "no" to such requesters if they wish to stay in office. They also are smart enough to know not to try to influence adcoms over the applications of students whom they don't know. Senators, etc. will save their influence for things that truly are important.</p>
<p>The letters are basically ignored by the colleges. What counts in a letter is what the letter says about your character. Included in that is how well the writer knows you and under what circumstances they know you.</p>
<p>To expand on what I said before, a poorly written letter by a janitor who barely speaks English, but is honestly describing how a student volunteered with the janitor's LD child and made a difference in that child's life would count for far, far more than would a vague letter from Sen. Frist who has only a nodding acquaintance with the student. In fact, the vague letter from Sen. Frist might turn off adcoms because they might feel that the student's accomplishments were made by family connections, not by the student's hard work, talent and strength of character.</p>
<p>Fids,</p>
<p>
[quote]
I may collect more and just have the better ones sent, if that isn't inappropriate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Recommendation letters should ideally be sent directly by the writer to your college, or, if handed to you, should be sealed, and signed across the seal. Also, the forms that you handed to your letter-writers, probably had a box where you could waive your rights to see the letter, and hopefully you checked that box. A recommendation letter that has been viewed by the beneficiary has far lesser impact/value, as the writer could not be as forthright, as if the ben. was not going to be reading it.</p>
<p>And a recommendation letter collected a year in advance is not as targeted, current, or effective as a letter collected during the fall of senior year when the student is applying to colleges.</p>
<p>There's really no need to jump the gun so much on this, people: talk with your chosen teachers at the end of your junior year to see which ones might be good choices, but be flexible (some of them might not be back the next year!) and don't actually ask them to write anything until your senior year fall. It's just not as effective. As chocoholic says, check the box that waives your right to see the letter: have the writer send them directly to the schools at the appropriate time. The writer will be more candid and write a more targeted letter on your behalf.</p>
<p>Visit this thread for details on how to make the rec process work well: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=34489%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=34489</a></p>
<p>Yeah, I know. But I was planning on having them sent this year (long story), and instead they will be sent next year. I'll probably see them all first and then directly contact the people and have them send them directly. Oh, it's confusing, but yeah.</p>
<p>My d is a senior, who has applied to 5 schools with good theatre programs and is almost at the end of the admissions and audition process. Her older sister is a Founder's Day Scholar Graduate of Tisch/NYU. They are very different academically, but have shared the same thespian bent since they were very little. My older daughter's rec's came from teachers at the private school she attended, while my younger daughter's are from two directors, one from a local professional theater producer and the other from a local independent film maker. I did not see the first person's letter, but the second was quite specific giving a positive account of my d on his ten day shoot. He even stated that the test audience, who viewed his film was particularly impressed by my d's performance.
My daughter does not particularly care for her public high school's theater program because freshman year the administration, without notice, changed a policy which ultimately denied her access to Drama II. Imagine having an eight year history of public performing and being legally enrolled in an advanced drama class then suddenly being told you're out. Unfortunately, by the time she tried to solve this she couldn't even get into Drama I. Additionally, she couldn't perform outside of school because the school does not support it.<br>
I am concerned that the college admission people may think the lack of support from the drama dept is odd. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it, but I wondered if anyone in this forum had any thoughts about this.</p>
<p>Letters from ap psych, geography/photography teacher/ ap us and from a respective entrepreneur/employer in the community who knows me better than most people.</p>
<p>Letters from:
AP Calc I & II Teacher
Guidance Counselor</p>
<p>Result: In to first choice</p>
<p>I got different letters for different schools... </p>
<p>AP Calc teacher
AP Enviro/Chem teacher (had for two years)
Comp Programming teacher (teacher for two years, still work with him on independent stuff... thinks I'm God's gift to the world :) )
Superintendent of school system (have been on advisory boards with him and am on the board of ed)
Principal (doesn't like me AT ALL but a big scholarship required it and he couldn't refuse to write a simple letter of rec for one of his top students)</p>
<p>Unless you work for the Senator, please don't send a letter. That would just look very...odd.</p>
<p>Yeah, colleges don't care if you know important people, only if you know them on a close personal basis. Thats why the teacher whose class you got a C in might write a better rec. than the teacher of the AP class you got an A in.</p>
<p>I had them from:</p>
<p>AP world history teacher from junior year. (Super cool guy, really smart, and I wrote a *****in' final project on the russo-japanese war)</p>
<p>AP Calc. AB senior/Acc. Algebra 2 Sophomore teacher. Got C+ in the class sophomore year because of disorganization, focus issues; A- first quarter senior while really mature, organized, hardworking)</p>
<p>Summer Program Teacher who offered to write one for me after the course about my "leadership skizzls" (he didnt actually say skizzls).</p>
<p>Taekwondo Instructor/Employer (she knows me well, has watched me teach kids, work hard, dedication, focus, blah blah blah, etc.)</p>
<p>And 2 alums. submitted the online "alumni report" to CU for me. Both have known me for years (best friends mom, fellow taekwondoist)</p>
<p>I think one's recommendations should have reason's behind them. Pick people who can bring out the qualities your application can't explicitly say. It's good that they can say you're smart and hard working and shiz too, because it's nice to have a human saying that to back up your SAT and GPA, and shiz lol, respectively. I needed to explain my so-so grades, so I picked a teacher who could write about my improvement and maturation.</p>
<p>ONE LAST NOTE: almost all recommendations say great thigns about you. For this reason, adcoms can read between the lines. What is not said, is essensially interpreded as a negative. "____ is very focused and hard working. He is dedicated and comes for extra help." (I dunno what teacher would write something that lucid, but the point is that the kid is persistent and trys hard, but not the brightest lightbulb)</p>
<ol>
<li>AP English teacher</li>
<li>Gifted Teacher (Future Problem Solving, Mentorship, Book Group)</li>
<li>AP Environmental Science/Chemistry teacher (for schools that required science teacher recs)</li>
<li>AWESOME letter from my state's governor!</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>the Pope ( it was pretty short tho, he fell asleep after the first 2 lines)</li>
<li>Samuel L jackson</li>
<li>God <-- this one was good.</li>
</ol>
<p>Me:</p>
<p>US AP Teacher
Alg 2/Trig Teacher
Calc Teacher
Counselor</p>
<p>Me:
1) Distinguished philosophy professor at my current university
2) Current feature writer for the LA Times
3) Former Pulitzer-prize winning staff writer and hiring editor for the LA Times</p>