<p>although if your counselor knows you, its a plus...
I didnt have a GC so My principal filled it out :)</p>
<p>One of my teachers said that he wrote three types of recommendations for good, very good, and exceptional students. For good students he could often recycle bits of old recs and add in some personal details, for very good students he could often use bits of old recs and then add in a few more personal details, and for exceptional students he'd often just start from scratch. So in this sense a good recommendation could hurt you because it isn't a very good or exceptional recommendation. </p>
<p>I had three teacher recs, and I think they all really helped my application. (In fact, I think any one of them could have made the difference between admit and deny). One was from my math teacher. According to another teacher at my high school, if my math teacher highly recommended you to the college I now attend you would pretty much get in. (I went to a very academic prep school that sent about 5 people a year to that college, and he'd clearly only highly recommend one or two students a year.) Another recommendation was from my physics teacher who knew me very well both as a student and as a person and was excited to get to write me a letter or recommendation. I'm sure that recommendation was very enthusiastic (although I never read it) and I'd bet that it had a lot of personal details. (We had teacher comments each quarter, and his comments were always very positive.) My optional recommendation was from a teacher at my college. I did a math summer program here and he was my professor for that program. In a program with about 40 students, half juniors and half seniors, 8 students from the program now attend my college. I can't be sure that it made a big difference, but it seems very likely.</p>
<p>I had my english teacher write a recomendation for me. Looked good on paper, but when I asked her to fill out the common app survey she marked my maturity "below average". However, she wrote next to it that she still believes I will "flourish in the collegiate atmosphere". Everything else was in the "outstanding, top 5%" area, so I sent the thing to Carleton anyway. I was angry at first, but then I realized that she was about 30% correct, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt.</p>
<p>I'm surprised you were allowed to look at the rec--my S wasn't shown any of his recs, nor were most of his peers. Sounds like your teacher was being candid & perhaps that will strengthen the rec because they don't like folks who just say everyone is perfect anyway.</p>
<p>This thread has been some comfort to me. </p>
<p>I've been incredibly stressed all week long over my recs for Yale. They're nice, but at least one of them is just kind of generic. And the counselor rec...oh my god. The woman does not know me and cannot write at all. But it sounds like adcoms are likely to weigh the rest of my application much more heavily than something like this, which I have no control over. That's good to know.</p>
<p>Notsomuch,</p>
<p>Wow yeah I'm surprised your teachers let you see your recs too.</p>
<p>Did you actually sign the waiver or no? I'm guessing you signed your waiver, but the teacher just let you see it anyway?</p>
<p>I'm not all that surprised -- teachers put effort into writing recommendations and probably want more than one person to enjoy the fruit of their labours (especially if it's a good recommendation). Of course, there's the whole confidentiality/waiver thing, which could get them into trouble.</p>
<p>The waiver is for the teacher's protection. The teacher is NOT bound by the waiver, only the student is. It's the teacher's work product that s/he can do with as s/he will.
Some nice folks who have written me letters in the past have sent me a blind carbon copy, so I knew what they wrote & that it was sent to the right place at the right time. I try to do that as well (when I remember).</p>
<p>Yeah at my school the teachers show EVERY kid their recommendation. I signed the waivers, but it's very open at my school. No one would DREAM of having it sent in confidentially.</p>
<p>My English Teacher has a PHD. How much better would it be for him to write a good rec compared to someone else who doesnt have a PHD in their subject.</p>
<p>NONE whatsoever.</p>
<p>How well the teacher knows you as a person is much more important than whether or not he/she has a PhD. So, if that teacher with the Ph.D is very well acquainted with you and will be able to describe your character w/ lots of specifics, then he is the right person to ask for a recommendation. If not, find someone else, with or without a Ph.D, etc.</p>
<p>in my hs, my AP English teacher makes the students write the recs they want for themselves and he'll just sign it (doesn't even read it)...</p>
<p>i hate those kinds of lazy teachers...</p>
<p>One of my teachers gave me a copy of the rec AFTER sending it, although I had signed the waivers. It was a wonderful rec. The teacher's reason for showing it to me was that I could be proud about how I impressed him.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My English Teacher has a PHD. How much better would it be for him to write a good rec compared to someone else who doesnt have a PHD in their subject.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>He might be better at writing in general...provided the PhD is in English. High school teachers sometimes aren't the most literate of people. Aside from that, no benefit.</p>
<p>here's a question: am I the only one that's become paranoid, thinking that every little mistake/mean comment I've ever said will be used against me?</p>
<p>I'm from Germany, and my teachers write <em>crap</em> recommendations. I mean, ok, they write really good things about me, but it sounds like bla-bla-bla. The adcoms love to see specific examples, anecdotes. I really think that my teacher recommendations will **** me up...sad, but true.
So, in order to get into your dream college: it's not just that you need to be really good; your teachers need to be really good, too.</p>
<p>If you ask a teacher to write a recommendation, ask them if they can write a "positive" letter. If they say they can, then they're either ready to write good things or else just malicious.</p>
<p>so then how do u guys try to build a "good" relationship with teachers such when they write recomms about you, isn't just about "oh X did this and that and has high grades" but about "he/she is a truly ______ person etc e tc?"</p>
<p>Invite them to Myspace. :)</p>