Teacher Letters of Recommendation (LOR’s) play a key role in college admissions, so try to ensure they’re consistent with the rest of your application and your admissions strategy. A good rec letter should be personal, written by a teacher that has known you and taught you in the past two years. Ideally, a good letter shares insight into your motivation, intellectual curiosity, and character through storytelling and anecdotes. The same rules that apply in essay writing apply here to show, don’t tell. Your LOR’s should not match everything on your application and resumes, but show different sides of your character, motivation, work ethic, etc.
Letters of Recommendation: An Important Part of Your College Application
Colleges rely on LOR’s because they provide context to your profile in ways that other submitted material and data cannot. An LOR can reinforce your character and reveal something important about you that isn’t mentioned elsewhere. Examples might be an explanation of something out of the ordinary happening at the high school or a specific personal issue you overcame in class or at school that your teacher witnessed and that you hadn’t mentioned elsewhere in the college application.
Colleges value LOR’s as input to the holistic picture of you as a person that they form to supplement your academic data. They may assume that if your teachers speak glowingly about you and include supporting facts, that you’re likely to succeed in their college and contribute to the campus and community.
You can influence the impact of LOR’s more than you may think, so you should devote the same time and attention to them that you do to the other parts of your application. Over 15% of top-tier colleges view LOR’s as “highly important” in admissions decisions and more than half consider them “moderately important.” A mediocre LOR can harm your chances of admission and a poor one can have a devastating effect.
Who You Should Ask to Write Your Letters of Recommendations When Applying to Colleges
You want your recommenders to submit letters that are relevant, positive, enthusiastic, and factually specific. Who you ask is the most important factor in your LOR’s effectiveness. Seek teachers who know you well and genuinely like you.
You’re required by the majority of colleges to submit LOR’s from one or two teachers depending on the college. Submit only the required number. It’s best if your LOR’s are from 11th grade teachers. Colleges value these teachers most due to their recent experience in teaching you for a full academic year plus the fact that your 11th grade classes are generally more difficult than the previous year’s classes. LOR’s from teachers in core courses are preferred, especially if they teach courses in your intended field of study. You should also consider asking an English teacher because writing proficiency contributes strongly to the success of students in most collegiate fields of study. If you are a STEM student, consider having your junior year math or physics teacher write your rec. We advise our students to aim for one humanities teacher and one science or math teacher.
Successfully Manage Letters of Recommendation When Applying to College
Below are steps you can take to assure that your LOR’s will have the desired impact.
Step 1: Ask early. Since 11th grade teachers are preferred, ask them early in spring semester of that year. There has been enough time for them to get to know you and vice versa. If a teacher even hesitates due to doubts about you as being worthy of a recommendation, find someone else. Note: Certain independent schools have their own system of ‘assigning’ recommenders to each student so sometimes you will not have a choice.
Step 2: Help them help you. The recommendation process should never be a throw of the dice because you’re not sure what a teacher will write about you. Eliminate this risk by arranging a meeting with LOR writers late in junior year. Bring a copy of your résumé and leave it with them. Write and present a letter reminding them of how well you performed in their class and of the key highlights or dazzling moments that you might have experienced in their class. If you have an idea of the colleges on your list, identify them and state your educational and career goals. Have a frank discussion with them about the personal attributes that you would like them to highlight and the facts to include. This enables recommenders in writing a detailed and strategic narrative, meaning that they might capture things that aren’t elsewhere in your application. Finally, ask them if they’ll permit you to communicate reminders of submission deadlines as they approach. They will usually say yes.
Step 3: Express your gratitude. Send a “Thank You” note to the teachers after they have completed the task.
Outstanding LOR’s can elevate your application above your peers. An outstanding teacher’s rec can push you from being on the bubble into the accept pile. For more guidance on how to create and submit successful college applications, reach out to the AdmissionSmarts team.