Teacher Recommendations

Have you started looking at your college applications to see if they are going to require one or more teacher recommendation letters? 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.) The University of Michigan, on the other hand, will require a teacher 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 a teacher recommendation letter, give some thought ahead of time to who you would like to ask for the recommendation. 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 they require that the letters come from teachers, can they 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 more than one teacher recommendation letters are required, 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 Senior Information Drawer in the Counseling and Career Center and in the Shared Files area on PrepHQ we have forms you can use to ask your teachers to write a recommendation for you . 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, we have 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, some colleges will have a separate form for the teachers to complete in addition to their recommendation letter.) If you are applying using the Common Application you will need to "invite" your teacher to write you a recommendation on their website and they can elect to submitting the recommendation electronically. If they prefer to recommend using paper, offline, then you will have a two-page form that you need to download and provide to them.

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.

There is one other important point that I need to make sure you are aware of - do NOT ask teachers for a recommendation letter if the colleges where you are applying do not require a letter. Writing recommendation letters requires a great deal of time. Do not waste your teacher's time by having them write letters that are not necessary. Some students have asked if they should ask multiple teachers to write letters even though only one was required and the answer is NO! If your teachers agree to write a letter on your behalf, you should feel confident that they will write a solid recommendation. I also recommend that you waive your rights to seeing their letter.

And finally, please do not forget to write your teachers a thank you note expressing gratitude that they took the time to go above and beyond by writing a letter of recommendation for you.