Securing Strong Teacher Recommendations
A key component of your college application is your recommendations, they are an integral way a college will learn about how you will contribute to their academic and social environment and they round out the holistic review colleges conduct on their applicants.
Do you regularly participate in class?
Is your work product innovative? creative? well conceived? well executed?
Are you comfortable interacting and collaborating with peers and teachers?
Did you struggle at first and then master the subject?
Almost every school requests at least one teacher recommendation, many request two and some request even three. Most often they must be an academic teacher as well as another teacher who knows you well. Some schools also ask for recommendations from coaches, art teachers, or others who can speak to your character and personality in your area of interest. You want to select teachers who know you well, not necessarily classes where you received an A, but classes which will show your personality and your interests.
Some teachers only write recommendations during the school year, others prefer to write them over the summer, find out what they prefer and respect their timelines, while being a squeaky wheel is often a good thing, you don't want to be a squeaky wheel with your teachers. After you've talked with them send an email reminding them of what you intend to study, and of your accomplishments and participation in their classes so they can easily write a strong recommendation.
In your follow up email it's helpful to give the recommender some background. What are you thinking of studying in college? Did you do any projects or write any papers in their class which show your interest in that area of study? You might remind your teacher about an activity in their class that gave you the most pride, and why? Any major concepts in their course that interested you the most, and why? How did your strengths and contributions added to the value of the class, both individually and in group settings? If you have one ready, some students provide their recommenders with a short resume so they can speak holistically to your character. You want to make it easy for them to write a great recommendation. This email allows them to easily write a strong recommendation, then follow up with them to make sure they agree to write it.
Do NOT wait until a week before a recommendation is due to request it, besides being inconsiderate of your teacher’s time, it quite possibly might result in their refusal to write it or worse a poor recommendation. Make sure you let all your recommenders know if you are considering applying early action/early decision and make sure they know your earliest application deadline.
Remember, while you think you are #1 in their mind, there are probably dozens of other students who think that as well.
Lastly, remember to THANK THEM FOR THEIR TIME.