10 Reflections on Teacher Recommendations

05-06

By http://accepted.com

Teacher recommendations are an important part of your college application at

many colleges, with most colleges requiring one or two letters in support of

your application. These recommendations provide additional insight into your

personality, intellectual curiosity, and potential impact on your college

community.

From my time on the admissions side of the desk, I know that many teacher

recommendations add little to the student』s application. Admissions staff try

never to penalize a student for something he can』t control, so the boilerplate

recommendation generally fails to add to your application rather than

detracting.

A few things to consider as you solidify your teacher recommendations:

1. In most instances, your recommendation(s) can be written by any

teacher who has taught you in a solid, academic course in 10th, 11th or 12th

grade. A solid, academic course comes from the disciplines of math,

science, English, social studies or foreign language. Religion is not a solid

academic course in most instances. 11th grade teachers, and teachers who have

taught you in multiple years are often the best candidates for a teacher

recommendation.

2. Some colleges do have specific requirements regarding

recommendations from specific teachers, for example math or science for

Engineering applicants, or art for art applicants. Check each college』s

requirements carefully. In general, it』s preferable to ask teachers from two different disciplines to write your recommendations.

3. Give your teachers as much time as possible to complete your

recommendations. Some teachers devote a great deal of time to each

letter and popular junior year teachers may write several dozen recommendations

each fall.

4. When discussing recommendations with your teacher, either in

person or via email, share with your teacher your reasons for asking him or
her. Why did you enjoy the class? Remind your teacher about some

of your most memorable work in the class. Do you still have copies of papers or

exams that you can provide? The best teacher recommendations aren』t always from

the class in which you earned the highest grade.

5. The purpose of the teacher recommendation is to clarify your

academic contributions and learning style. A good teacher

recommendation will focus on these ideas (perhaps including how you overcame any

challenges).

6. Academics are the most important but if the teacher has

also worked with you in a club or extracurricular capacity, this can add

additional insight.

7. Caution: the best teacher recommendations do not reiterate

information found in other parts of your application. As an admissions

person, this was the most frustrating part for me. I really wanted new insight

and anecdotes to help me understand the applicant, not a list of clubs and

organizations. It』s tempting for a lot of teachers to summarize your activities

in their letter, but you』ve already included that information in your

application.

8. Teachers upload recommendations directly

into the common application. You will provide your

teachers』 email addresses in your application and proceed to invite them to add

their letters. You can select different recommenders for different schools. They

can then create a common application account and upload their letters. The

process can be slightly different if your high school uses Naviance to handle

common applications.

9. The Common Application will also ask you if you would like to

waive your right* to see the recommendations, and by all means, the

answer is yes! If you don』t believe the teacher you are asking will write a

candid, positive letter of recommendation, then choose a different teacher!

Colleges will place less weight on a letter of recommendation if the applicant

hasn』t waived the right to access the letter.

*Waiving your right to see your letters of recommendation only applies to

reading the letters AFTER you are accepted to a school and IF that school
actually keeps the letters on file.

10. Finally, thank your teachers, both in advance for their

time and after your letter has been submitted.

以上內容摘自：

https://blog.accepted.com/10-reflections-on-teacher-recommendations/