Which teachers should i ask for recommendations

Bottom line: ask people who know you well and ask early! Get all the answers you seek in our Ask the Experts - College Admission section! Join the CollegeXpress community! Tags: application advice ask the experts college applications recommendation letters. CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit. Use the following rules of thumb as a guide to asking for letters of recommendations: Core academic teachers you have had your junior and senior years of high school Academic teachers you have had for four years band, foreign language, art, etc.

Elective teachers you have had for four years student government, newspaper, physical education, etc. Coaches who have known you for four years or less Advisors who have known you more than one year through clubs, activities, etc.

Community people who know you well church or other community members Do not ask your parents or your relatives to write letters. Join Now. Join our community of over 5 million students! Join CollegeXpress. Register now for our scholarship giveaway First Name. Enter Me Now! Also, should I consider senior year teachers too?

Here is some other information:. Intended Major most likely to least likely : Neuroscience, mathematics, or economics Pre-med route! I will greet them and have light conversation, smile at them in the hallways, etc. Calc: One of the classes I struggled with and worked extra hard in. I think this is my favorite teacher. There was only about three kids in my period who actually participated—I was not one of them. Lang: The teacher is definitely passionate about what they do and is generally kind at the least, respectful to their students.

Known as the harsher fairer? Physics: This class also kicked my butt, but the curve and weight of the tests are structured in a way that you can still manage an A- in the class with a B- test average in the class. I rarely participated. I feel like there are other people in the class who talked more and really showed their intellect in doing so. The teacher is very quirky and sometimes all the time goes on tangents completely unrelated to French.

They are understanding of students and the stress they go through, and will accommodate if necessary. I am a part of the French Honor Society that they run and will have them for senior year too.

They are very talkative and tell a lot of stories, and generally easy to talk to if I feel like it. I think they also do a lot to get to know their students and to be a personal, approachable teacher. Thus, he will have known me for longer.

I will also have my French teacher again senior year. You can send in as many recs as you see fit right? So get these from your teachers now and be open to getting recs from senior teachers that you really get along with.

You seem to be very proud of Calc and enjoy the teacher, so I think that would be a good choice. Gov also sounds great bc the teacher knows you well.

Every student asking for recs should ask the teacher s whether they can write a positive letter for you. This is always appropriate, phrased politely of course. While it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher I would never assume a teacher will write a positive rec. Obviously when the student asked for a rec she assumed it would be positive, but here is what she got:.

This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.

I like what mikemac said. You can also ask Fresh or Soph teachers if you were able to connect with them. Send no more than two teacher recommendations. If you have a third LOR not at all necessary it should be from someone who knows you in a non-academic setting ex. Think about how knows you best as a student and a person.

Unfortunately, schools have major differences in class size and teacher to student or counselor to student ratios. Some students barely meet their counselor or have trouble connecting with individual teachers in large classes.

For the most part, admissions officers should have a sense of your school profile. If this is the case, you might consider adding a supplemental recommendation. It's also a good idea to share information with your recommenders so they can more thoroughly personalize your recommendation. Whether your recommender knows you well or not, it's a good idea to help them out with a "brag sheet," or a document where you reflect on your strengths, goals, and significant experiences and challenges.

You and in most cases, your parents can and should share your reflections and resume with your recommenders to help them write an effective letter. You can bring this information with you when you request the recommendation and discuss it with your recommender. You can also make an appointment with your counselor so she can get to know you even better and talk about your plans.

Finally, you also want to consider who has the time and experience to write a strong letter. Simply put, who can write well? This kid clearly knows what he's doing. What about your teachers? Your letters of recommendation don't have to win any Pulitzer Prizes, but they do need to be clear, strong, and powerful pieces of writing.

You want someone who is going to take the time to craft an eloquent statement of support. The best recommenders have both experience writing letters of rec and familiarity with various colleges and their expectations. Often, students have a sense of who writes good letters through word of mouth. Your counselor may also be a good resource, as she might be able to recommend some teachers as good choices. Teachers with experience are often a good choice, although a relatively new teacher can be great too if she knows you well.

You may be able to share guides on recommendation letters with your teachers, but you'd have to gauge whether they could benefit from and be open to these resources.

You don't want to cause offense or suggest they don't know what they're doing. At the very least, you can share your resume, brag sheet, and information about the colleges you're applying to and future plans.

While the skill and experience of the teacher is an important, if difficult to measure, factor when deciding who can write your recommendation letters, it is secondary to considering who knows you well and admires your academic skills and personal qualities. The majority of college applicants are high school seniors, and most of the college application advice out there is aimed at them. But what do you do if you don't fall into this narrow category? Our eBook on how to prepare for and apply to college as a nontraditional student will walk you through everything you need to know , from the coursework you should have under your belt to how to get letters of recommendation when you're not a high school senior.

Now that we've gone over who you should ask for a recommendation letter, what about the flip side? For the purposes of avoiding the earlier described bad letter, who shouldn't you ask for a letter of recommendation?

As mentioned above, it's unlikely that anyone is going to write you a purposely bad recommendation and sabotage your application. However, recommenders can still unintentionally hurt your chances with a mediocre letter. So that you don't end up with a lukewarm, boring, or meaningless reference, you should make sure to avoid asking certain people.

First, don't ask teachers who don't know you well. If you've barely exchanged three words with a teacher all year, then they won't have much to say. Even if they're well aware that the best recommendations letters give stories and examples, they might not have any to share.

Then their letters will end up being a restatement of facts and figures, which doesn't communicate much to admissions committees. On a similar note, don't ask your principal or an influential person on the local or national level just because of her authority. If she doesn't know you as a person, then her letter will add little to your application.

If you do know the person well, though, then go right ahead. Showing that you got to know your principal well as a high schooler speaks to your outstanding presence at the school. Since colleges want to see your academic ability and potential , you also shouldn't ask a teacher in whose class you performed poorly and didn't put forth effort. If you demonstrated an unwillingness to learn, challenge yourself, or improve, then the teacher won't have many positive things to say about your potential to succeed in college.

Finally, consider your counselor's suggestions and general reputation of teachers as letter writers. When I was in high school, I asked a teacher who ended up giving me a generic form letter and wanted me to go through and change all the "he's" to "she's.

If your teacher isn't going to take the time to write you a personalized letter , or if she doesn't know what makes a good rec letter and isn't open to feedback, then she is not the person to ask. You need familiarity combined with strong writing skills to truly communicate who you are as a student and person and stand out as an intriguing document on your behalf.

While you may ask for your recommendation at the end of junior year or beginning of senior year, I would recommend starting even earlier in terms of preparing to request recommendation letters. Read on to find out how. College planning starts years ahead of actually applying to schools.

In terms of the recommendation letters, it's a good idea to consider who you might ask at the beginning of junior year. If you usually don't participate much, push yourself to contribute more in class. If you know you're applying as an engineer, consider accepting your science teacher's invitation to join her Robotics Club or ask about designing your own independent project.

The most important thing you can do is to push yourself to get to know your teachers and develop a connection with one or more of them.

To some students, this comes naturally, while others prefer to work more independently. If you consider yourself the latter, then you might prefer to show your eagerness to learn and contribute with a supplemental project.

Pushing yourself to participate more will come in handy when you reach college too, as many of your classes may expect debate and discussion. While you should ask your recommender at least a month before your deadline, many students choose to ask at the end of junior year.

You'll still be fresh in the teacher's mind, plus it will show how motivated and proactive you are. You can also schedule meetings with your counselor to discuss your plans as they develop.