I am considering asking my orchestra conductor for a letter. He has known me since I was in 5th grade, and I’m now a co-concertmaster as well as the pianist in his orchestra. However, this isn’t a school orchestra, and I don’t really know about his ability to write me a good letter since, well, he’s purely a musician. But we do have a very very good relationship and I know he thinks highly of me. Do you guys think it’s worth it?
Maybe it’s also worth mentioning that my two academic letters are of suspicious quality… one of my teachers chose me for a teacher-nominated award for citizenship/academics but after I got his letter I heard he uses the same exact template for every single kid. Another teacher hugged me when I asked her (was very, very excited) and she wrote my name on the top of her to-do letter list and highlighted it… but then I also heard she uses templates. Plus she’s heavily overworked and very busy with her own personal life. Yeah, I go to a crappy public school if you can’t tell. So maybe that conductor rec would give some additional insights that my teachers can’t.
Yes, it’s definitely worth getting a letter from your conductor, especially if music is your main extracurricular, and especially if your orchestra is considered to be the prestigious youth orchestra of your area, maybe affiliated with the local conservatory.
You might luck out on the letters from your public school teachers. You’d be surprised what your teachers might do, for a stellar student whom they really like. They want to see their students do well in admissions, even from a public school.
My kid submitted 4 letters - two from academic teachers (one humanities, one science), and two music (one from the private teacher, who was a big name in the field at a famous conservatory, and one from an orchestra conductor, who happened to also be the conductor at kid’s top choice college, which did not have a school of music, but had a very fine orchestra and a good non-performance music department).
You’re the co-concertmaster AND the pianist? You sound as if you have a very high level of music achievement. This could definitely help in admissions. Some schools value on-campus musicians in the class in the hopes that they will bring their skills to performing arts ensembles on campus.
If the colleges you are applying to allow it, go for it.
BTW - They all reuse templates of some kind, but that does not mean they do not add specific comments about you or delete things that do not apply to you. Make sure to share info about yourself with the them so they remember all of the great things.
My son asked his music teacher and sent to schools that allowed. I have no idea what was actually written in the recommendation, but his end of the yr banquet speech about my son had us all in tears. It will speak volumes, especially if you plan to be part of the orchestra in college.
I agree with the other answers. It sounds like your orchestra conductor is likely to give you a very good recommendation. It also sounds like you have shown an ability to focus on music and do very well with a high level of achievement. The fact that it is not a school orchestra does not matter – your ECs do not need to have anything to do with your high school (years ago one of my two most important ECs similarly had nothing at all to do with my high school).
It also sounds to me as if your other recommendations are likely to be very good. The teachers know you. They also will have lots of experience writing letters of recommendation and will know how to do it.
To me “use a template” just means that they know how to format a recommendation. This is entirely normal and is not anything for you to be concerned about.
I do not see any problem here at all. I do think that your orchestra conductor could give some additional insights that would be valuable and positive.
In terms of your going to a “crappy public school”, I did too. My roommate freshman year at MIT had graduated from an even worse public high school. This did not stop us from getting accepted to and graduating from MIT. Universities do not expect you to fix your high school. They expect you to do well at whatever high school you attend.
Many many MANY teachers use a template for letters of reference. That doesn’t mean each letter they wrote is identical. It means they have a framework from which to start.
I’m not sure I would say use if a template is an issue. I use a template when I write LORs…and believe me…no two are alike.
Re:your orchestra director…both of my kids submitted LOR where allowed from a precollege ensemble director. This person knew them well, and could really speak to commitment!
I use a template. I have been writing letters of recommendation for grad school for employees on my team for 30 years- each one just cannot be original (especially if I get a lot of requests) but each one is individual if you get the distinction. I refuse (politely) to write a letter for someone who is (in my mind) a slacker or a sociopath (have had a few of those) but most of the time I can come up with something fresh and positive.
A template is a good thing. It means the teachers are focused on the content (describing YOU) and not sweating the format…
By template I mean straight up copy-paste — sorry for not being clear on that. Two graduated students from ‘21, who asked for letters from one of my teachers, apparently saw their recommendations since they needed them for some job application, which requires them to submit the letter themselves as PDF. They decided to compare letters and they were identical, just the names had been changed. If it was a regular template I wouldn’t be concerned, but it’s literally copy-paste with highly generic comments about “so-and-so is a good student…”
And I will ask for my conductor’s recommendation. Thanks for the feedback
So what? The letter mentioned each student’s name, right? Do you think adcoms compare LOR from the same teachers for applicants? My guess is they get a lot of more generic letters.
I’m aware it won’t hurt me but it won’t help me much either. Not great when it comes to applying to Ivy+ schools… i don’t think the letters would be sufficient in painting a complete picture of me.
Are you good enough to submit a music supplement with recording (short, cued), music resume and 1-2 letters of recommendation related to music (If the school allows)? You can certainly get a letter from the orchestra director. You can hope it covers talent but also personal qualities like hard work, leadership and ability to work with others.
I am curious: do you think musicians don’t write well?
I don’t really know about his ability to write me a good letter since, well, he’s purely a musician.
He’s never written a letter of rec before, for a college applicant. He’s not a teacher so it’s not like he does this every year and has a great deal of experience with it. I don’t mean to imply that he can’t write well… I’m a musician myself… it’s just the lack of experience.
Our kids always felt that their orchestra directors WERE teachers. They taught ensembles. But this is off topic.
As noted above, if the college(s) allow an additional LOR, then ask this person.
It sounds like you are looking for a perfect LOR and you don’t think anyone you have asked (and this includes the orchestra director) will give you one that is perfect. Please…just ask these folks if you want them to write you letters. Then…put this out of your head because the control you have is in the asking…not in the letter they write.
OP- it’s perfectly acceptable to give your orchestra director a “cheat sheet” (experienced HS teachers do this all the time). You can do a few bullet points of things he might want to mention or emphasize:
1- Your work ethic and focus
2- Your willingness to operate outside your comfort zone (new works you aren’t familiar with; innovative orchestration which you were eager to learn or whatever is relevant)
3- Leader among your peers- the person who is able to rally the group for “one more run-through until it’s perfect even though we are all exhausted and need to quit”
Or whatever is relevant. No guarantees he’ll use it, but he might appreciate the extra “nudge”.
Teachers of juniors have to write hundreds of rec letters. They are not going to write a new letter every single time for each student. Of course they must use a template. And of course they will personalize it as needed.
Give your teachers credit please.
And it really doesn’t t matter what a recommender’s writing skills are. “This is the kindest and most humble student I’ve ever worked with” or whatever it may be doesn’t require great writing skill. Recommendations are not graded. AOs want to know what your recommenders think about you.
