Recommendation Letters

Woo Hoo! I have officially finished my first recommendation letter. I have another one that I started and abandoned because I wasn’t happy with it (4 pages later) and am now working on a third person’s. This is, without a doubt, one of the most time consuming aspects of my job. I love the part when I get to sit and talk with you about your high school career before I sit down to write the letters, but the actual writing of the letters… not so much. Oh well, it is a necessary part of the job and so I am happy to do it.

The need for counselor recommendation letters is a great reminder of why it is important for students of every grade level (Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) to drop by my office throughout the year to allow me to get to know you better. I am confident that I know this year’s senior class better than I knew the class of 2007’s seniors at this same time last year. I sincerely want to expand that to include the younger students so that I am more comfortable with talking about some of the incredible things that you all are involved in and are accomplishing during your high school careers.

Have you started looking at your college applications to see if they are going to require recommendation letters from me or from your teachers? Some schools will require it and some will not. OSU, for example, does NOT require any recommendation letters. (Can you blame them? Imagine trying to read 22,000 recommendation letters on top of the applications and essays that they receive.) Miami University, on the other hand, will require 2 teacher recommendations and a counselor recommendation. If you are having problems determining if the colleges you are considering require recommendation letters – just stop down to see me and I can try to help you figure it out.

If you do need recommendation letters, give some thought ahead of time to who you would like to ask for the recommendations. Look at the requirements specified by the school – are they open to coaches or advisors writing letters or do they want them to come from academic teachers? If it requires that the letters come from teachers can it be from any subject area or are they only open to the core subjects of English, math, science, and social studies? Are you looking at a career in a specific area that a teacher at WKHS can write about your strengths in that field? For example, if you are considering majoring in Spanish perhaps a recommendation letter from one of your Spanish teachers would be appropriate. What teachers know you best? Who can speak to your work ethic and classroom contributions? If possible, it is often ideal to show your strengths across multiple subjects, so if you have a few teachers to pick from and 2 are math and 1 is science perhaps it would be beneficial to ask 1 math and 1 science teacher rather than the 2 math teachers simply to show that diversity. Remember, in recommendation letters from teachers the colleges are asking for information about you as a student and your potential for handling the academic rigors of college.

Once you have figured out the teacher or teachers that you want to ask for a recommendation (if needed) it is then time to ASK them if they are willing to write a letter for you. It is really important to be reasonable in the amount of time that you are allowing them to have to write your letter. (Think 30 days or more!) They are very busy with their classroom work and grading homework and papers and of course life in general and many teachers are often bombarded by students requesting recommendations. If a teacher is unable to write a recommendation letter for you – either because they don’t feel that they know you well enough to write a strong letter or because they have too much on their plate, don’t take it personally, simply ask another teacher. You will be thankful that you didn’t force them to write the letter because it wouldn’t be as solid of a recommendation letter if they were rushed or only had vague highlights to discuss.

In the Counseling and Career Center we have new forms that you can use to ask your teachers to write a recommendation for you if needed. It is also helpful to provide a resume or the type of information which is frequently seen on a resume to your teachers. (To make this easier, if you don’t have a resume, we have copied a recommendation information sheet on the back of the recommendation request form mentioned above.) It is also really important to specify the number of letters that you need, for which schools, and to provide envelopes as well as any forms required by the schools for the teachers to complete. (For example, the common application has a 2 page form for the teachers in addition to their recommendation letter.)

Once your teacher has completed his/ her recommendation letter they will either give it directly to me to add into your application packet when we mail it or they will give it to you to bring to me. You are the one ultimately responsible for making sure that the recommendation letter is submitted to me so if you are unsure if your teacher has provided me with the letter, stop down to see me.

If a counselor recommendation is required it is beneficial to come and see me as soon as you realize it so that we can set up a time to meet. (Yes, I do require EVERY student that I am going to write a recommendation letter for to actually come in and TALK to me… what a crazy concept!) I write the letters on a first come first serve basis. It is the only way I know how to be fair. As I mentioned last night, I have a *bit* of a perfectionist streak and so I try to put a lot of time and effort into the letters – last year it took me an average of 5 hours per letter which adds up quickly. (I am hoping that this year since I have known you all a little longer that it will go faster, but if this weekend has been any indication… well, let’s not go there…) So please, watch your deadlines and try to help me write the best letter possible by allowing me to have the time with it. You might wonder why it takes me so long to write a recommendation letter and it is because each letter should (hopefully) capture the essence of you – and each of you are very different. When writing recommendation letters generalized praise is wasted space so I need stories and examples to help give people a true image of you and to make it more than just what they can read about you in your application. I can’t say that I reach that goal every time, but I promise that I try my best.

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend – back to a full week of school this week with the homecoming football game coming up on Friday night and the dance Saturday night.