<p>A key subject matter teacher for S told S and other classmates that he/she doesn't like to write recommendations, but would consider doing so if student prepared a sample recommendation letter for the teacher to use (or revise) - not a resume or summary (S has done that for others), but a form of actual recommendation. I am thinking this is the teacher's way of avoiding the task. Nevertheless, S needs a recommendation in this subject area and other prospects have been even less accommodating (or are staler).
Has anyone encountered this before? How did you approach the task? Did you make an effort to be balanced? Will the letter have any credibility at the end of the day? Any other thoughts?
(Needless to say, the teacher's attitude has me steamed, but in the short term we need him/her more than he/she needs us!)</p>
<p>A way around that might be to obtain the type of question sheet that some guidance counselors give out to students/families to give them more insight into the student's strengths and interests. Our gc gave one to my son and a different one to me, and we made sure they were extremely well written, as we thought that actual sentences might be lifted.</p>
<p>Agree with Donemom - DD's school does the same thing, the parents basically write an essay answering several questions about the child, emphasizing their strengths - the CC uses the parents' comments to get to know the child better, look for unique attributes to add to the GC's letter, interview the child, etc. From my DD's brag sheet and our letter, the CC learned about an outside EC that was a unique part of my DD's resume.</p>
<p>I would NOT be balanced (I wouldn't lie, but I would stick to the positive!). The hard part would be that while you may well know your child's academic strength in the particular area, you won't know anything about his participation or contribution to the class - a strong letter would even include specific examples. This is a tough one, unless theteacher plans to use the letter more like our CC uses the parents' essay - as a starting point, lifting only a few points, not just retyping it and sending it off - Sheesh!</p>
<p>When I wrote my essays for the gc, I was able to reference some in-class vinettes that I knew about from parent/teacher conferences and from things my own son had told me about.. Still, of course, its not the same as what the teacher can relate.</p>
<p>I had a similar situation with one of my teachers. I convinced her to write it with me in the room. She's very disorganized and ADD so having me there helped her to focus and to brainstorm things to write. I'm also very close to that teacher so she believed me when I said I was morally opposed to writing my own reccomendation. Also, another teacher asked me to be in the room when he wrote it so that I could give him concrete examples of leadership and whatnot. Perhaps that sort of arrangement could be worked out?</p>
<p>I second the concept of writing down some concrete examples that are specifically designed to be lifted and copied. The point here is that many recommenders are innundated with requests, and giving them material that they can use (or not use) if they want is simply making it easy for everyone to meet their deadlines.</p>
<p>Try to submit specific things that will be meaningful coming from the recommender. There are sample letters of recommendation in many "how to get into college" books that you could look at.</p>
<p>Dear p.i.Dad,
Your parenthetical concluding sentence says it all. I am steamed, too! It is very different to say to a class or a student, "I find it difficult/frustrating to write excellent recommendations without accompanying info from the student," versus "I don't like to write recommendations." Yeah, I don't like to do a lot of things that are my responsibility to do. How unprofessional of this teacher! This is called her/his job. Writing college recs is as much a part of the drill as showing up for class & grading papers. Worse is sharing that dislike with the students: I guess they're supposed to not feel guilty now for asking for the recs.</p>
<p>Not my business, Dad, but in your position I would complain to the administration about this teacher's lack of class -- after the recs were mailed.</p>
<p>In our school any teacher who said this in the presence of students would be in danger of losing his/her job. If there was a "dislike" (!) it would be shared with the GC only, who would (& does) counsel all the seniors tactfully that the large # of recs required by teachers makes it important for students to make the job easier. Our students are under strict deadlines for submission of those rec requests; they must present the appropriately addressed envelopes, fill out all personal data, & definitely accompany with summaries, resumes, any pertinent material. I made sure that my own D did all that, & provided convenient folders & envelopes & even URL addresses in case a re-do was necessary. Also, our students must write thank-you notes to each individual teacher for those.</p>
<p>Not the way things are normally done, but I have seen this done in special situations--regular GC out on sick leave, applicant not known to replacement GC, applicant asks for recommendation VERY late in the season and needed it right away. Replacement GC asked her to write a draft of the recommendation that she could look over and revise. </p>
<p>I'm sure that one of the reasons that the GC asked the girl to write a draft of the recommendation is to show her that writing recommendations takes thought and time--it isn't something that you ask the GC to do at the last minute.</p>
<p>If he does take a stab at writing the recommendation himself, this article might help - it's a look at various samples of rec letters with admissions reps discussing whether they work or not:
<a href="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3955/is_200504/ai_n13641984%5B/url%5D">http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3955/is_200504/ai_n13641984</a></p>
<p>My teachers just wanted lists of my activities and things. However, one of them barely got the letters done on time. I gave them the forms before thankgiving, checked back a couple times, then freaked out a week before christmas break when they weren't even started. She did finally get it in on time, but my solution was to have a smart friend who had the class with me write one for the teacher. I couldn't do it myself, but she wrote as good a letter as the teacher did, and could use examples from class, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks, those are all good recommendations and thoughts. We'll give a try.
Epiphany - we will express our displeasure at an appropriate time. Save for this complaint, however, this teacher is very good and respected by S and other students.</p>